Dead or Alive?
by KatelynElizabeth
Summary: Everything was going great for the team at NCIS until a shocking clue at a murder scene gets everyone thinking and suddenly it becomes a race against time to save Kate from Ari before it's too late and Tony loses the woman he's always loved. Extreme TATE!
1. Chapter 1: In the begining

"Tony just give it back" McGee whined for the forth time that hour. Tony had been picking on him since ten that morning for a no better reason then he was bored.

"Come on McGeek. Reach higher" Tony teased back. He was standing on his chair holding up McGee's tuna fish sandwich which didn't smell all that right but fish never does.

Suddenly McGee went silent and sat back down in his chair. "Ah ha!" Tony cried in victory. "Probie has given up. You know what that means" he said with a devilish grin.

"You know what 'what' means" came a familiar voice from behind him. Tony squirmed.

"Oh hi boss. I was just telling McGee here that you should never eat tuna fish sandwiches because they smell" Tony said trying to cover himself but it didn't work.

"That didn't stop you all those times you ate Kate's" Gibbs said and kicked the chair from beneath him sending Tony plummeting to the floor with a bang. Ziva looked over from the book she was reading and laughed.

"Looks like Tony's fallen off his high chair" she said.

"Horse" McGee corrected her.

"What?" Ziva asked.

"The saying is he fell off his high horse" McGee explained.

"Oh whatever" Ziva sighed 'they're both high".

"What is this" Gibbs asked "are we back in the 3rd grade? We have a crime scene to go to"

"What…do…we…have?" Tony asked, still slightly winded by his sudden fall to the ground.

"A female petty officer was brutally murdered" Gibbs informed the team "so gear up and let's go" and he walked towards the elevator.

"I have a bad feeling about this case" McGee said while placing his weapon in its holder on his belt.

"What do you mean McGee?" Ziva asked.

"Not sure but I have a feeling that this is a case we're not going to forget in a hurry" McGee answered and followed Gibbs.

"Never mind him" Tony said as he and Ziva followed McGee. "He's just paranoid"

"AM NOT" McGee yelled over his shoulder and they entered the elevator ready for the case that was going to change their lives forever.


	2. Chapter 2: The mystery begins

Click, click went the camera as Tony was taking pictures of the victim. She was young, about in her 20's, with blonde hair and blue eyes which were wide open in terror. She was lying behind a park bench with her body badly beaten and blood everywhere.

"Oh this poor woman" Ducky said as he stuck the liver probe into her abdomen.

"T.O.D Ducky" Gibbs asked as he, Ziva and McGee scouted the area for evidence.

"I would say that this young woman died somewhere between 5 and 6 hours ago" Ducky concluded and turned to the victim. "Now my dear. We're going to take you back home with us and you're going to tell me exactly what happened to you" Gibbs just shook his head. Talking to the victims was something Ducky always did.

Suddenly a flicker of light from the ground caught Gibbs's eye. He reached down and picked up a silver necklace with a cross hanging from it. Something in his gut was telling him that he'd seen it before so he turned it over to reveal what he was hoping wasn't there. The name 'Kate' was engraved on the back of the cross in his handwriting. A shiver went up his spine because he knew that Kate was wearing it the day she died and she was buried with it. What was it doing at the scene of a crime when Kate died two years ago? Gibbs paused for a moment and instead of placing the necklace in an evidence bag, he placed it in his pocket and continued searching for more evidence. A few metres away, Ziva stood watching Gibbs pocket the necklace. Something wasn't right and she was going to find out what.

* * *

"So how did our victim die Ducky?" Ziva asked Ducky. Ziva, Tony and McGee were down in autopsy following up on the victim.

"Well you see these bruises around her neck" Ducky said "well they were caused by an increased pressure around the neck, cutting off her air supply"

"You mean that she was strangled" Tony said.

"Precisely" Ducky answered.

"Well why didn't you just say that?" Tony asked shaking his head.

"Well if I just came out and said things then it'd get rather boring then wouldn't it" Ducky explained and walked out of autopsy. Ziva turned to Tony and McGee and said "have you noticed something odd about Gibbs since we got back?" she asked.

"Nope" Tony answered.

"Not really" agreed McGee.

"He's been really quiet since we've got back" Ziva replied.

"So" Tony said "he's probably just thinking"

"Thinking?" Ziva repeated.

"Thinking really hard" Tony added.

Ziva took a step closer to Tony and said "oh really. Did he slap you on the back of the head when he caught you making fun of me?"

Alarm rose in Tony's eyes and he exclaimed "something is really wrong"

Ziva nodded and both of them rushed out of the room with McGee chasing after them.

* * *

Gibbs sat at his desk starring at Kate's necklace in his hand. Why would someone place it at the crime scene? Gibbs remembered back to the day that Kate died. He remembered that she had been wearing the necklace when she was shot. Ziva, Tony and McGee watched Gibbs play with the necklace sitting in silence. "See what I mean" Ziva said.

"Is he playing with jewelry?" McGee asked. Tony's eyes opened wide and he exclaimed "that sly dog. He got a girlfriend" Ziva rolled her eyes and answered "just because you have a girlfriend that you wanted to keep secret doesn't mean he does". Tony watched as Ziva headed towards Gibbs before following.

Gibbs looked up to see Tony, Ziva and McGee standing around his desk. 'oh boss you shouldn't have" Tony said sarcastically "I don't think it really goes with my suit though".

Gibbs raised his head and gave Tony a look that could only mean 'you're going the right way for a really hard head slap'. Tony took two steps backward while Ziva asked "who does the necklace belong to?"

"No one" Gibbs answered and put the necklace in his draw, locking it afterwards. 'So what do we have?"

"About what?" McGee asked.

"About our dead petty officer" Gibbs said, getting rather annoyed.

"Oh her name was Chardonnay Wilson and it says here that she was a highly recommended marine" McGee read from the victims file.

"Chardonnay? Like the wine" Ziva said, slightly confused.

"Fancy naming your kid after a wine" Tony said with a laugh but that was soon followed by a hard fast slap on the back of his head. "Sorry boss" he apologized.

Gibbs turned back to McGee. "Anything else" he asked.

"Other than the fact she had three over due video rentals…no" McGee answered.

"THAT'S JUST GREAT! FIND ME MORE EVIDENCE! I WANT TO KNOW WHY SHE WAS AT THAT PARK AND WHO SHE WAS WITH! YOU HAVE FOUR HOURS!" Gibbs bellowed and stormed up the stairs towards the director's office. Ziva, Tony and McGee just stood there in silence surprised at what they just witnessed. Gibbs had yelled at them before but there was something about this time that was different. Slowly they turned towards Gibbs's desk. Whatever was in that draw was the source of all their problems. "Open the draw Probie" Tony finally said, breaking the silence.

"I'm not opening the draw. You open the draw" McGee argued.

"I'm the senior agent and I tell you to open the draw" Tony argued back.

"But…" McGee started but stopped when he and Tony heard a small click and the sound of the draw opening. They turned to Gibbs's desk where Ziva stood next to the now unlocked draw. "Or we could just get Ziva to do it" Tony finished. Ziva picked up the necklace and held it in front of her. Suddenly Tony went a ghostly white.

"Tony are you ok?" McGee asked.

"Probie, tell me where you've seen that necklace before" Tony asked McGee.

"Kate had one like it so..." McGee answered.

"No Probie" Tony continued grabbing the necklace off Ziva "this IS Kate's necklace" and he turned the necklace over to reveal Kate's name in the back of the necklace.

"Gibbs found that at the crime scene" Ziva spoke up.

"That's ridiculous" Tony exclaimed "why would Kate's necklace be at a crime scene?" McGee nodded to show that he agreed with Tony before Ziva replied "I don't know but I saw him take it" there was an awkward silence before McGee slithered back to his desk leaving Tony and Ziva standing at Gibbs's desk with his draw wide open. Tony turned startled as he heard someone clear their throat behind him. "Hey boss" Tony said turning to Gibbs. Gibbs walked over and snatched Kate's necklace out of Tony's hand and put it in his pocket.

"Boss" Tony asked concerned "why do you have Kate's necklace?"

"I believe that it is no of your business" Gibbs snapped pushing past Ziva and sitting down at his desk and slamming the door shut.

"I saw you pick it up at the crime scene" Ziva said starring down at Gibbs.

"Oh did you Officer David" Gibbs answered grumpily.

"Yeah" Tony piped up "but I told her that it was ridiculous. I mean why would Kate's necklace be there when she was buried with it"

"You tell me DiNozzo" Gibbs replied taking a sip of his coffee. All of the team members stood there in silence until they were interrupted by Abby looking very confused and worried at the same time. "Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs" Abby said rather quickly and high pitched.

"What is it Abbs" Gibbs asked.

"Well we have a slight problem" Abby explained.

"Get on with it Abby" Gibbs said raising his voice ever so slightly.

"Gee Gibbs, no need to yell" Abby said but quickly got to the point when she saw Tony's 'get on with it or something nasty will happen' face. "Well I analyzed the prints off the victim's clothes and I think I might have stuffed up"

"Why Abby" Gibbs snapped and stood in front of her.

"Well" she began slowly "the prints cam back but the person they belong to is dead so…"

"ABBY, WHO DO THEY BELONG TO!" Gibbs shouted so loudly that Abby jumped and covered her ears with her hands and quietly said "Ari".

"WHAT!" Gibbs shouted.

"THEY BELONG TO ARI HASWARI" Abby yelled back at Gibbs. An eerie silence fell over the room as the same thoughts crossed everyone's minds. Why were Kate's necklace and Ari's finger prints doing at a murder scene when the both died two years ago? None of this made sense but whatever is was, Gibbs was going to find out.


	3. Chapter 3: The search continues

Director Sheppard sat at her desk thinking about her younger days with Gibbs when Gibbs burst into her office, a coffee in his hand. "Jethro, what is the meaning of this?" the director yelled as Gibbs started pacing her office.

"We have a problem Jenny" Gibbs began.

"Has it got something to do with you barging into my office" Director Sheppard asked, rather upset.

"Someone is trying to make us believe that Kate is alive" Gibbs said rather hastily.

"Who?" director Sheppard asked.

"Special Agent Caitlin Todd" Gibbs said with anger in his voice.

"Oh I remember hearing about her. Isn't she dead" director Sheppard said.

"She's meant to be but someone is trying to make us think otherwise"

"How?"

"Someone placed her necklace at the crime scene this morning" Gibbs explained.

"So" director Sheppard said wondering where all this was going.

"WELL SHE WAS BURIED WITH IT!" Gibbs yelled, his face going red.

"It's probably one that just looks like hers" director Sheppard said sternly, unshaken by this news.

"No" Gibbs snapped "this is Kate's necklace. I made the cross my self and her name is engraved in the back" Director Sheppard walked over to Gibbs and looked at the necklace before saying "you never made me something this special or expensive" she joked but became slightly worried when Gibbs's face didn't break into a smile like it usually does when their past relationship is mentioned.

"Gibbs" Director Sheppard said "what else is going on. It's not just about Agent Todd is it" Gibbs took a long mouthful of his coffee before replying "Ari Haswari's fingerprints were found at the crime scene".

Director Sheppard walked to her desk and picked up the phone. "What are you doing?" Gibbs asked watching Jenny as she dialed a number into the phone.

"I'm getting Dr Williams to exhume Kate and Ari's bodies" Director Sheppard answered waiting for someone to answer. Gibbs rushed over to Jenny's desk and ripped the phone out of her hand and hung it up.

"JETHRO! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" Director Sheppard demanded. Gibbs leant in slowly and said in a low voice

"You will not exhume Kate's body"

Director Sheppard also leant in and lowered her voice as well but in a more matter of fact tone "you can't tell me what to do Special Agent Gibbs. Now if would please leave my office. I have a phone call to make" and she leant back and sat back down in her chair. She gave Gibbs a demeaning stare and started to redial the number. Gibbs was about to say something he knew he'd regret later so he stormed out of the directors office and stormed back to his desk where Ziva, Tony and McGee were waiting for him.

* * *

"Everything alright boss?" Tony asked looking up as Gibbs came down the stairs.

"Just great DiNozzo" Gibbs answered. Tony nodded and went back to his desk.

"Uh boss" McGee said, his voice shaking a little "I found some info on the petty officer. Would you like to hear it?"

Gibbs slammed his hand down on the desk and yelled "well yeah McGee"

"Um ok" McGee answered going over to his desk and grabbing an evidence bag. "We found this receipt on the petty officer for a bottle of coke at the West Road Service Station and judging by the time I'm guessing that's the last place she was before she died"

Gibbs looked at the receipt and said "McGee, you and Ziva go and check out the station. Pull the tapes. I want to know who she was with and what she was doing". Gibbs and Tony watched as McGee and Ziva headed towards the elevator.

* * *

McGee and Ziva walked into the service station and went over to the service desk where the operator was standing. "May I help you" the rather tall looking man asked them.

"Yes we're wondering if you've seen this woman" McGee asked holding up a picture of the victim.

"Yeah she came in here two days ago around eleven" the operator answered, fiddling with his hands. Ziva noticed this and stepped forward.

"Is there something wrong sir" she asked glaring at him.

"No nothing" he answered rather too quickly.

"We'll need your security tapes for the last two days" McGee said heading towards the door to the security office. The operator came over to the door and put his hand on the doorknob and snapped "do you have a warrant?"

Ziva also placed her hand on the doorknob and stared down at the operator before saying rather smugly "would you like to be charged with hindering a federal investigation?"

The operator waited for Ziva to move her hand before unlocking the door and letting McGee and Ziva in. "don't break anything" the operator mumbled and shut the door behind them.

"Ok" Ziva said looking at the pile of used security tapes "this is like looking for hay in a needle stack"

"Needle in a hay stack" McGee relied as eh started searching the first pile.

"Same difference" Ziva sighed joining McGee.

* * *

Tony sat at his desk staring at Gibbs. Gibbs hadn't, moved from his desk since Ziva and McGee left. He was busy staring at something on his computer screen, occasionally looking at files next to him.

"Boss" Tony said hoping for a reaction but Gibbs didn't even look up. Director Sheppard walked down the stairs and walked over to Tony.

"How long has he been there for?" she asked

"About an hour" Tony answered looking at his watch "no make that two"

"What is he doing?" director Sheppard asked and started walking to Gibbs's desk.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you" Tony warned but the director ignored him, so he shrugged his shoulders and went back to what he was doing.

"Special Agent Gibbs what are you doing" the director asked.

"Stuff" Gibbs mumbled. The director looked over and saw every single one of Kate's and Ari's files sitting on Gibbs's desk.  
"Why have you got their files?" director Sheppard asked as Gibbs took another look over Kate's NCIS file and her autopsy report.

"Investigating the scene of a murder" Gibbs answered calmly opening up another file and staring at the photograph inside it. Director Sheppard was about to answer when she heard the elevator doors open and Ziva and McGee walked out holding two security tapes.

"We got the tapes" McGee exclaimed holding them up.

"Good" Gibbs replied "take them down to Abby and tell her she's got two hours".

Ziva nodded and started to head towards the forensics lab before McGee said "there's no way Abby can watch and analyse those tapes in two hours". McGee gulped as Gibbs looked at him and gave him a too familiar look. "Um I'll tell her boss" and with that Ziva and McGee headed towards Abby's lab.

* * *

Ziva and McGee entered Abby's lab but it was empty. "Abby" Ziva called but there was still no answer. Suddenly two hands slapped Ziva on the shoulders, making her jump about two feet in the air.

"Abby…WHAT…WAS…THAT…FOR?" Ziva asked between breaths.

"Practicing being Gibbs" Abby answered. "What ya got for me?"

"Two security tapes that Gibbs wants you to analyse by one" McGee informed Abby.

"Two hours! How could I do all that in two hours" Abby complained.

"Well he expects you to" Ziva said giving Abby an 'I'll get you back for that look'. Abby sighed and took the tapes before saying "tell Gibbs that I'll give him the results when I'm done".

Ziva and McGee nodded and left the lab. "Ok" Abby whispered putting the tapes in the video player "let's see what you can do" Abby sat down and started to fast forward through the tapes. Abby was startled when McGee came back in.

"Hey Tim" Abby said "what's up"

"Oh" McGee replied "I forgot to tell you that the petty officer was believed to have been murdered about eleven so you might want start there"

"Thanks" Abby said and started to fast forward the tapes even more as McGee left the room.

After a while Abby was about ready to give up on the tapes and start on something else when she saw something that made her stomach churn.


	4. Chapter 4: The living dead

"You're such a pain in the asp DiNozzo" Ziva screamed at Tony. While they were waiting for the tape results, Tony and Ziva were going over the victims file to see if they could find anything else they missed. However instead of actually reading the file, Tony had stolen Ziva's lunch and was happily munching away.

"Arse Ziva" McGee corrected her.

"What?" Ziva asked not sure on what he was talking about.

"The term is you're such a pain in the arse, not asp. That's a snake"

"Whatever he's still a snake to me" she mumbled.

Tony returned the comment with a loud hiss and took another bite of Ziva's sandwich. Gibbs just shook his head and went back to Kate and Ari's files when Abby walked into the squad room. Her face was red and puffy clearly showing that she'd been crying. Gibbs sprung out of his chair so fast you'd swear that his pants were on fire.

"Abbs are you ok? What's wrong" he asked with concern in his voice. Abby tired to speak but her mouth moved and nothing came out. Ziva, Tony, McGee and Gibbs all surrounded her of concern.

"Abby talk to me" Gibbs said placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"You…" Abby began with a tremble in her voice "have to come see this" and with that she turned and walked back to her lab, closely followed by Gibbs and his team.

* * *

As they walked into Abby's lab and eerie shiver went up everyone's spine. On the screen was the service station where the victim was last seen alive. However upon closer inspection, Tony noticed the time read 10:40 instead of 11.

"Umm Abbs. It's at the wrong time" he pointed out.

"Shut up Tony" Abby snapped which shocked everyone. "Watch" and with that she pressed play and the NCIS team watched as a man wearing a hat covering his face entered the service station. They watched in silence as the man shook of rain and removed his hat. Everyone gasped, mouths dropping to the floor. Ari Haswari looked around the store before turning to the operator.

"That son of a bitch" Gibbs said through gritted teeth "he's meant to be dead" Ziva choked back tears as she watched her brother say something to the operator.

"Can you turn on sound?" Gibbs asked, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"Give me a sec" Abby said and with a few clicks of her keyboard they all heard Ari say

"And if you tell anyone I will kill you. Do you understand" the operator nodded quickly and looked around the room, hoping that he wasn't going to die. When the operator finally found his composure he turned to Ari and asked

"Why are you here by your self?" Ari turned around and rolled his eyes before saying

"Are you going to join us" Tony, McGee and Gibbs watched as Ari turned to the service station door.

"No" came a small female voice" this turned everyone's attention to the door where they saw a figure wearing a raincoat.

"Come on" Ari went on "you'll freeze if you don't come in"  
"I'd rather freeze then be there with you" the figure answered. Tony tilted his head to one side because the voice sounded very familiar.

"GET IN HERE CAITLIN" Ari shouted grabbing the figures arm. Tony then realised where he'd heard that voice from before.

"Boss" Tony said "that's Kate!" Gibbs held his hand up at Tony telling him to be quiet and watch so Tony turned back to the screen as the figure started to remove their raincoat. As the raincoat fell to the ground, McGee, Tony, and Gibbs were lost for words when they saw Kate standing in the service station with Ari watching her every move.


	5. Chapter 5: The truth revealed

_In this chapter you find out how Kate and Ari are still alive. We've slightly changed how they were shot. Kate was shot in the back of the head instead of the front and Ari was shot in the chest. Just go with us on this one_

The NCIS team watched as Kate walked around the service station. Gibbs's fists started to clench.

"You ok boss?" Ziva asked "it looks like you've seen a dead person"

"Ghost" McGee corrected her "the saying is it looks like you've seen a ghost and yeah he has"

"What do you mean?" she asked "who is that with Ari, I've never seen her before"

"That" Gibbs started absolutely furious "is Special Agent Caitlin Todd" he said and stormed out of the lab towards the Director's lab.

"She's Kate!" Ziva exclaimed in surprise "how is this possible. They're both supposed to be dead!"

Tony just shook his head and remained glued to the screen. Kate made her way over near the fridges and sighed.

"Caitlin what are you doing?" Ari suddenly said making her jump.

"Nothing Ari" she said coldly.

"For the last time I told you to call me Haswari. I hate the name Ari" he said raising his voice in frustration.

"What ever you say…Ari" Kate said with a smirk and continued walking around.

"Watch how you speak to me Caitlin" Ari threatened and turned back to the operator. Abby, McGee, Tony and Ziva watched as Kate walked over to the window and looked out but then suddenly the screen went black and turned off.  
"WHAT HAPPENED ABBY?" Tony shouted at Abby, who was fast in the process of rushing back to her computer but was quickly stopped by the Director standing in front of her.

"Miss Director Mam" Abby stuttered "how can I help you?"

"I hear that we have to people that are meant to be dead who aren't" she said looking sideways at Gibbs who just joined them.

"It would appear that Ari and Kate aren't as dead as we first thought" Ziva explained.

"And we have proof" Director Sheppard asked.

"Yes video evidence. That was what we were just watching" Ziva answered.

"well we're just going to have to exhume their bodies just to make sure these aren't just really good look-a-likes" Director Sheppard finished and headed towards the door but stopped when Gibbs stood in front of her.

"Agent Gibbs please move out of the way" the Director said calmly but sternly but Gibbs didn't move.  
"I told you before you are not exhuming Kate's body" Gibbs said strongly.

"Well I made the call earlier remember. Their bodies are on their way now" Director Sheppard exclaimed and pushed past Gibbs and headed into the elevator. Gibbs turned to his team and sighed. He knew there was nothing he could do to stop what was happening. All he wanted to do was to find whoever was trying to make them believe that Kate and Ari were alive and make them suffer.

"Let's go" he said quietly and walked out of Abby's lab closely followed by McGee, Tony and Ziva. Abby just stood there and turned the screen back on so she could continue watching her best friend.

* * *

Down in the evidence garage, duck was standing there staring at Kate's coffin lying next to Ari's. "Oh Caitlin" he said as he shook his head

"What are we going to do?"

"Who are you talking to Ducky" came a familiar voice from behind him. Ducky turned around to see Gibbs and his team standing behind him.  
"Oh no one in particular" he answered.

"So let's open them up" Director Sheppard said, also joining them.

"There's no need" Ducky said a little anxious.

"Why not Dr Mallard" the Director asked with hands on her hips.

"Because I can tell you exactly what's in there without opening them" Ducky said, not keeping eye contact.

The Director was not enjoying the mucking around so she asked "well what is in there? Two bodies I hope"

Duck sighed "nothing. Absolutely nothing" he answered.

"Ducky how do you know that?" Gibbs asked slightly confused "have you looked already?"

"No I haven't looked" Ducky said defending himself "I know because I helped Ari and Kate fake their deaths"

"YOU WHAT!" Gibbs bellowed "HOW COULD YOU?"

"We had no choice Jethro. Ari had my mother and Kate's family. We had to do what we were told or he'd kill them" Ducky said defending himself again.

"What do you mean 'we had no choice?" the Director asked somewhat more calmly than Gibbs.

"Kate and myself. She knew about it too. Ari threatened the ones we loved. We had to do it" Ducky explained.

"You could have come to me" Gibbs snapped staring down at Ducky. He was so close that Ducky could feel his breath on his face and his anger.

"I'm sorry Jethro" Ducky sighed. Director Sheppard turned to Ducky and said "open the coffins"

"I don't really see the need…"Ducky began but stopped when Director Sheppard butted in with "just do it"

Ducky sighed and grabbed the crowbar off the bench and walked over to the coffins. "Oh I'm sorry Caitlin" he mumbled to himself and pried open the coffin. No one took a breath in the time it took for everyone to look into the coffin and discover that Ducky was telling the truth and that Kate's coffin was empty. Director Sheppard slammed her hand on the desk and bellowed "DR MALLARD MY OFFICE NOW!" Gibbs, Tony, McGee and Ziva looked over at Ducky as he slinked off followed by the Director. Gibbs clenched his fists and followed them.

"Ducky's in a lot of trouble isn't he" Ziva asked looking at Tony. Tony shrugged and started for the door before answering with a sympathetic "yep"

* * *

"Shut the door Dr Mallard" Director Sheppard said sitting behind her desk and watching Ducky shut the door behind him.

Ducky walked into the office and stood in front of the Director and said "I'm so sorry Jenn but as I said, we had no choice" Director Sheppard sighed and said "I can understand why you did it but what I don't understand is how you did it" she said motioning for Ducky to sit down, which he did.

"Well" he began "when Gibbs, Tony and Kate were on the roof, Kate had a small blood bag underneath her hair where no one could see it. Then Ari shot at her with a very tiny and very soft pellet type thing and it burst the bag and blood went everywhere making everyone believe that she'd been shot"

"But wouldn't a pellet to the head kill her?" the Director asked.

"Not this one. It was designed not to kill but don't ask me how. All I know is after he shot her with the pellet she'd only have a really nasty headache" Ducky explained.

"So why did Ari need you?" Director Sheppard asked.

"Ari needed someone to pronounce Kate dead" he said and sighed.

"And how did he survive when Ziva shot him?"

"He had a blood bag on his bullet proof vest which burst when Ziva shot him and again I came and pronounced him dead"

Director Sheppard sighed. "Ok well at the moment I have no choice but suspend you until further notice" Ducky was about to reply when Gibbs entered the room and gave him the dirtiest look Gibbs could give.

"Agent Gibbs" the Director exclaimed "this is a private conversation"

"I won't be long I just want to know what you're doing about Kate and Ari"

Director Sheppard sighed before replying "I've notified the FBI and they're now considering Agent Todd as a terrorist"

Director Sheppard watched as a look of complete and utter loathing crossed Gibbs's face before he yelled "WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT"

Director Sheppard held her composure and replied "because it's my job and Agent Todd was and still is in the company of a wanted terrorist"

Gibbs slammed his hand down on the Directors desk and said "Dammit jenny. Kate wouldn't do that"

The Director sighed and motioned for Ducky to leave. Once Ducky had left the Director sighed "she wasn't tied up and she didn't look like a hostage and for all we know this could all be some big conspiracy"

Gibbs was about to answer when there was a knock on the door. "Come in" the Director snapped and they watched as the door opened and Tony entered the room.  
"Umm boss" Tony said "they're here". Gibbs nodded and Tony left the room.

"Director" Gibbs said smugly "there are some people you have to meet". Director Sheppard shook her head and got up and followed Gibbs out of her office.


	6. Chapter 6: A very close call

As the director and Gibbs turned the corner they were met by a group of six strangers and Gibb's team. "Who are these people and what are they doing here?" the director demanded.

"Director," Gibbs said "I'd like you to meet Mr. and Mrs. Todd and their four children Michael, Brendan, Logan and Sasha. They are all here for you to explain why you're classifying their daughter as a terrorist".

"You're classifying Caitlin as terrorist," Mr. Todd said in shock "how could you. Caitlin would never do that".

"Well I'm sorry Mr. Todd" Director Sheppard began but was interrupted by Kate's father.

"You can call me Gus," he said "it's short for August".

"Well Gus I'm sorry but you daughter is giving me no choice. She faked her death; she's spent two years with a terrorist and hasn't made contact. What else am I supposed to think?" Director Sheppard explained and turned to leave but was stopped by Michael standing in front of her.

"You could always trust her because what she's doing she'd be doing for a reason" Michael exclaimed staring down at the director.

"I'm very sorry but I'm sticking by the FBI's decision unless something comes up soon that proves she's being held hostage Director Sheppard said and walked off going around Michael. Michael Todd turned back to his family and new friends.

"What do we do now?" he asked.

"We look for the evidence that proves she's not a terrorist" Gibbs said and walked down to Abby's lab closely followed by his team and the Todd family.

"Abby we need something NOW before the FBI put her on the most wanted list" Gibbs told Abby.

"I'm trying Gibbs but you can't rush science" Abby replied

"This is for Kate" Gibbs whispered in Abby's ear which made her spring up and say "Rushing science is good. We can rush science, lets rush science" and she started tapping away at her keyboard. Suddenly she stopped.

"What is it Abbs?" Tony asked as they stared at the screen which they had the video tape of Kate on it. "Ok this is a stretch but what is Kate wearing?" Abby asked.

"Uh she's wearing a nice top and long pants and boots" McGee said slightly confused.

"Now look closer" Abby said knowing she was getting to something. Everyone moved closer to the screen to study it but it was Sasha who spoke up first. "She's wearing plastic gloves"

"EXACTLY," Abby shouted "and why is she wearing those?"

"So she doesn't leave fingerprints" Ziva said catching on.

"YAY GO US," Abby shrieked "now look at Ari".

"He's not wearing gloves" Gibbs observed.

"Yes, so why is Kate wearing gloves and Ari isn't?" Abby said raising the question to the group. Everyone went silent trying to figure out the answer. Brendan looked as if he had something to say. "Brendan got something?" Gibbs asked.

"Yeah maybe," he said "what if the reason Kate is wearing gloves is so we don't know she's alive".

Logan turned to his brother. "So why isn't the terrorist?"

Gibbs suddenly went silent. "So we find out he's alive and want revenge" Gibbs said clenching his fists.

"But why would someone do that?" Sasha asked anyone who was willing to answer but no one could come up with anything.

Suddenly Abby broke the silence. "Look what Kate is doing" she exclaimed excitedly. Everyone watched as Kate removed her right glove and started picking up things from the shelves and started touching anything she could get her hands on.

"What is she doing?" Ziva asked out of confusion.

Gibbs's face broke into the biggest smile. "That's my girl" he said proudly.

"What is she doing Gibbs?" Ziva repeated her question.

"She's leaving finger prints" Gibbs said like a proud father. "She's trying to let us know she's alive"

"So what do we do now boss?" Tony asked, also very excited by now.

"You three" Gibbs said pointing at Ziva, Tony and McGee "are going to the service station and finding her prints and anything else she might have left"

His team nodded and turned to leave but Michael spoke up.

"I want to go too" he said.

"Michael I can't let you go" Gibbs said sympathetically "this is an investigation"

"But I could help" Michael whined "she's my sister. I'll be care full"

"No Michael" Gibbs said standing his ground.

"Then I'll go myself" Michael said strongly and turned to leave.

"Michael…" Gibbs began but Michael stopped him.

"Look Special Agent Gibbs. I'm going whether you like it or not. At least if I go with you guys then you can protect me or something" Michael protested.

Gibbs sighed. Michael was too much like Kate, so he knew he'd never win.

"Ok" Gibbs agreed "but you do everything DiNozzo says of else"

"Sure" Michael agreed and the four of them walked out of Abby's lab and on to the service station.

* * *

It took only 10 minutes for Tony, Ziva, McGee and Michael to arrive at the service station. Once they were out of the car, Tony took charge and delegated tasked for his co-workers.

"Ziva, McGee check out everything inside the service station. Look behind the fridges, on every shelf, dust for finger prints…" Tony began but was quickly stopped by Ziva who said sarcastically

"Gezz Tony. It's not our first day on the job. We know what to do" and with that, McGee and Ziva walked into the building.

Michael turned to Tony and asked "so what do we do?"

"We're going to look around outside and see if we can find anything" Tony answered.

"Gotcha" Michael said and he and Tony started looking around. As they were searching there was an awkward silence between them. Michael paused and turned to Tony who was searching near the gutter.

"Tony" he said.

"Yeah, what is it?" Tony asked, not looking up.

"About Kate"

"Yeah what about her?" Tony asked, looking up this time.

"Do you think that's she's a terrorist?" Michael asked, concerned.

Tony walked over to Michael and looked him strongly in his eyes. "No" he said firmly"Kate is not a terrorist"

"Do you think we'll ever get her back?"

Tony paused and said "yes. We will get her back alive because I would die before I let anything else happen to her, ok" and prayed that he was right.

Michael smiled to himself, being reassured by what Tony said but he had to and something else.

"You really like her don't you"

Tony was a little taken aback by what Michael just asked and replied "umm of course. She's my partner"

"Sure it is, don't lie" Michael said smiling "I can tell. You like her"

Tony was trying hard to make Michael change his mind but it wasn't really working. "I've got a girlfriend. I'm in a SERIOUS relationship" Tony replied mockingly.

A huge smirk crossed Michael's face before saying "I want to ask you one question and then I'll drop the whole thing ok"

Tony cautiously said "ok" and waited for the question.

"What do you see when you look at Kate?" Michael asked.

Tony looked at the ground and said "you really want to know what I see when I look at Kate?"

Michael nodded and Tony looked towards the window of the service station, squinting when he saw a strange reflection in the window. "I see…" Tony said while looking at the window but it was then when he realised what the reflection was and he shouted "SNIPER!"

A confused loom crossed Michael's face and he replied "you see a sniper when you look at my sister…" but before Michael could finish what he was saying, he was met by Tony tackling him to the ground with a loud thump.

* * *

Michael and Tony heard a gunshot and the sound of broken glass as they hit the ground and dived behind a nearby station wagon. "What the hell was that for?" Michael yelled pushing Tony off him and starting to get up but Tony pulled him back down and pointed at the service station window. Michael looked up at the window and saw a small bullet hole where a bullet had pierced through.

"Who shot at us?" Michael asked turned back to Tony.

"I don't know" Tony answered and took a quick glance around the side of the car but jolted back as another shot whizzed past his head so fast that he could feel the breeze from the bullet on his face. Tony sank back down behind the car. Michael was just about to say something when Tony's phone rang.

"It's Ziva" Tony said answering his phone.

"Tony are you guys alright?" Ziva asked in a panicky voice "we heard gun shots"

"Someone's taking pot shots at us" Tony answered.

"We know. One of them almost took McGee's ear off" Ziva said.

"Is he ok"

"Just a bit spooked"

"Ok well take cover and stay hidden. I'm going to call Gibbs. We need back up" Tony said and hung up the phone and dialed Gibbs's number. Michael could hear Gibbs's voice on the other end of the phone and he didn't sound happy.

"What is it DiNozzo?" Gibbs's gruff voice asked.

"Boss we're being shot at. There's a sniper on the building behind us" Tony said quickly.

"Are you all ok?" Gibbs asked with lots of concern and worry in his voice.

"Yeah we're fine boss"

"Stay put and don't move. I'll be there soon" Gibbs instructed and was about to hang up but Tony quickly said

"Boss we don't know where the sniper is. He could get you too"

"My people are being shot at! I'm not just going to sit here and do nothing. Hold the fort DiNozzo and watch our civilian" and Gibbs hung up.

"Yes boss" Tony said into the empty phone and turned to Michael.

"What now?" Michael asked giving Tony an anxious look.

"we wait" Tony answered and looked back at the window trying to see if he could get a look at the sniper but the shot had taken out the part of the window that he needed to see the opposing building.

"Dammit" Tony mumbled under his breath and loosened his holster so he had easier access to his weapon although he had no idea what that would do.

* * *

Gibbs tightened his bullet proof vest as he drove his car past the service station; he needed to seem like a civilian so he didn't draw attention to himself. Gibbs drove around to the back of the building opposite the service station and parked his car as silently as he could.

Gibbs approached the door to the building and saw that it was slightly ajar; he pulled his weapon from his holster and cautiously made his way inside.

As Gibbs entered he had a strange feeling that something wasn't right and he wouldn't like what he found. Gibbs walked up the long flight of stairs towards the roof and tightened his grip on his gun; he wasn't sure if the sniper would still be there or if they had the time to get away. Gibbs pushed open the door that led to the roof and looked around but he didn't see anybody. Gibbs turned and faced the other direction and saw a long black gun sitting on a stand facing towards the service station.

Gibbs walked over to the gun and pulled out his cell phone and dialed Tony's number.

"Yeah boss" Tony said as he answered his phone.

"Tell everyone to stay put and to not move a muscle" Gibbs answered.

"Umm ok" Tony replied wondering what Gibbs was talking about and hung up the phone.

Gibbs slowly made his way over to the sniper rifle and looked through the scope, his stomach churned as he saw that the sniper had a prefect kill shot on the back of Tony's head.

"oh god" Gibbs said and turned around in hope of finding some clue as to who was up there shooting at his team, although he had a pretty good idea who it was but what he didn't understand was how did Ari know that they'd be there? He turned around and looked up and spotted probably the best thing he'd seen all day. A security camera was pointing directly at the sniper rifle.


	7. Chapter 7: Revelations

As the NCIS team and the Todd family gathered around the screen in Abby's lab, all shared a similar thought 'what was going to be on that tape?'

Abby pressed play and all watched as they saw Ari and Kate enter on the screen. However Kate wasn't exactly going voluntary. She had her hands bound behind her back and was being escorted by one of Ari's thugs while Ari carried a very large black case and a stand. Ari's thug forcefully made Kate sit down about four metres from Ari while he set up his Bravo-51. An eerie silence filled the room. Just seeing Kate on the screen didn't seem real to them. She was so close yet at the same time, far away.

"What happened next?" Gibbs asked Tony.

"Well" he began "Ari aimed at Michael and took a shot" and right on cue, Ari fired the sniper towards the service station. Once Kate figured who Ari was shooting at she violently struggled to get free to stop him.

"ARI STOP IT. DON'T SHOT THEM!" she yelled at the terrorist but Ari just turned to her and smiled evilly. "PLEASE ARI" she begged but Ari just turned back to his sniper and took aim again. Gibbs turned to Tony and gave him a 'what happens next expression'.

"Ari shot again but it missed my head by like centimeters" Tony said.

"Why would Ari miss?" Ziva asked "I mean he never misses a target"

"He only missed me because Tony pushed me out of the way" Michael said before turning to Tony and added "thanks for saving my butt out there today"

"Anytime" Tony said and shock Michael's outstretched hand. All attention turned back to the screen once Abby pressed play again. They watched as Ari took aim and what was obviously Tony's head and he was about to fire when Kate somehow managed to untie her hands and ran and tackled Ari to the ground, the shot still going off. Suddenly Tony's face when a ghostly white and everyone turned to face him.

"Well I guess the reason why he missed was because Kate stopped him from killing you" Gibbs said stunned. Tony just nodded his head and gulped.

"Gibbs is right" Ziva said "if Kate hadn't tackled Ari, he would have killed you"

"Kate saved your life" Brendan said patting Tony on the shoulder. Subconsciously, but everyone noticed it, Tony felt the back of his head with his hand realizing how close he came to dying.

Very slowly they turned back to the screen and watched as Ari got up off the ground and ran back to his sniper but shook his head realizing that he had missed. "DAMMIT CAITLIN" Ari yelled turning and looking at Kate as she slowly got up off the ground. "What's the matter Ari; this didn't go quite as you planned?" Kate said sarcastically. Ari gave Kate an evil look and looked back through the scope of his Bravo- 51. McGee, Ziva and Gibbs watched as Ari once again took aim and Tony realized that Ari was aiming at him once again.

However, Ari paused and sighed. "What's wrong Haswri?" Ari's thug asked. Ari shook his head in disappointment.

"My chance is gone" he turned to Kate "and it's your fault" Ari's thug turned to Kate

"HOW DARE YOU STOP HASWRI!" he bellowed and ran up to Kate, punching her in the face knocking her backwards. As Gibbs watched Ari's thug hit Kate, his fist clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned a ghostly white but what they saw next surprised them all.

Ari turned around quickly, pulled out a small hand gun and shot his thug in the kneecap. "DON'T EVER HIT HER AGAIN OR I'LL KILL YOU. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME" he yelled and walked over to Kate and extended his hand to help her get up.

"C'mon," Ari said "we're leaving". Kate however didn't accept his hand; rather she turned away from him and said "leave me alone". Tony watched as Ari grabbed Kate's arm and dragged her towards the entrance to the building. "Boss," Tony said turning to Gibbs "that was around the time I called you". Gibbs looked at DiNozzo before replying

"Yeah I know Tony and it looks like that saved your life". Once Ari and Kate had left the roof Abby turned off the tape and looked at Tony.

"Wo Tony," Abby exclaimed "you had a near death experience today, is it true that you see your whole life flash before your eyes coz I thought that was just a myth but I mean you've experienced it so you could know sorta…." Abby stopped when Gibbs put up a hand indicating her to be quiet. Tony looked at the ground and walked out of the lab.

"I'm sorry Gibbs" Abby whispered and Gibbs nodded and left the lab closely followed by Ziva and McGee.

* * *

Tony sat at his desk fiddling with his hands as he watched McGee and Ziva take their places at their desks.

"You okay Tony?" McGee asked as he looked up from his computer, Tony just nodded and continued fiddling with his hands.

It wasn't to long before the team was joined by Gibbs who had been interrogating one of Ari's men who was found on the roof.

"Did he tell you anything boss?" Tony said trying to cover up his fiddling.

"Not much," Gibbs answered "Tony, Ziva grab your stuff your going to check all the warehouses on the west side of town, McGee we're going to check the rest". Tony just sat there as Ziva, McGee and Gibbs started to head towards the elevator.

"You planning on joining us DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked as he entered the elevator.

Tony looked up and quickly thought of an excuse for him to stay behind.

"Ah no," Tony replied "there's paperwork from the last case to be done I don't want it to build up".

Gibbs gave Tony a yeah right look but accepted Tony's excuse and closed the door to the elevator. Tony sighed a put his head in his hands. What was going on, why was he so afraid of going out in the field and why couldn't he stop thinking about Kate. Tony gave a frustrated groan and got up and headed towards the directors office.

* * *

Kate sat watching Ari as he paced the room. "Get over it Ari you missed" Kate said trying to keep her nerve.

Ari walked over to Kate and brought his face so close to Kate's that she could feel his breath.

"I only missed because that idiot DiNozzo interfered and once that happened my whole plan was screwed".

Kate held her breath as Ari took his face away and started walking around the room again. Kate couldn't help but hide the smirk on her face as Ari looked desperate, Kate's expression changed when a smile broke across Ari's face.

"What are you so happy about?" Kate asked trying to make it sound as though she wasn't scared out of her mind.

Ari stopped and turned to Kate before replying "I worked out how to make him pay, oh yes Caitlin he'll regret making me miss your brother". Kate tried to remain composed as she realized that Ari may hurt Tony.

"You're not going to hurt him are you?" Kate said desperately hoping the answer was no.

Ari smiled mockingly before answering "no I'm going to hurt someone he loves". A look of confusion crossed Kate's face she couldn't think of who Ari could be talking about Tony hardly ever talked to his parents and he didn't have any siblings that Kate knew of.

"What do you mean?" Kate asked looking at Ari intently.

Ari once again came over to Kate and replied "I'm going to go after his girlfriend". This made Kate even more confused because as far as she knew Tony was incapable of having a committed relationship.

"You're kidding right," Kate said laughing Ari's comment off "Tony couldn't love a dog let alone a person".

Ari once again smiled creepily and answered "Oh but that's where you're wrong," Ari pulled out a folder from his jacket pocket and continued "Dr Jeanne Benuit I believe they've been dating for a few months now and I believe they just brought a house together".

Even though Kate was in this situation she couldn't help but feel her heart sink, there was no way she could be with Tony now he was in love with somebody else. Ari gave a small chuckle and began to leave. "Please," Kate exclaimed "Tony has nothing to do with this just leave him alone". Ari smiled to himself.

"Ok" he said" I won't hurt Dr Benuit…now but don't think I won't" and he left, locking the door behind him. Kate dropped her head and thought about the pain that Tony was going to now suffer because of her. Kate couldn't contain herself any longer and put her head in her hands and burst into tears.

* * *

Tony slowly made his way up to the director's office and stopped at the door. He had no idea of what he was going to say; only that he knew he had to say whatever it was. He slowly opened the door and walked inside. "Agent DiNozzo. What can I do for you?" Director Sheppard asked.

"Umm I have to speak to you about something" Tony said.

"What about?" she asked.

"Well it's about what happened today" Tony said, taking a seat.

"Gibbs has informed me of today's events. Are you ok?"

"No" Tony said shaking his head "I'm scared to go outside because I think he's going to take another shot at me"

"I understand but that's not all is it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Gibbs says there is something else you want to talk about, other than the shooting today"

"Oh like what" Tony said in surprise.

"Something about Agent Todd"

Tony paused and sighed. "I really like her Jenny" he said.

"You like her?" Director Sheppard said, slightly surprised.

"Yeah but I mean I REALLY like her. I have since we first met" Tony admitted.

"Really and why didn't you say anything" Director Sheppard asked.

"Because I wasn't sure she felt the same way" Tony said "and I didn't want to say 'hey I like you, lets go out' and have her reject me and then it'd be all awkward between us"

"I see your point but what about Jeanne? Does she know how you feel about Kate?"

"No and I'm not sure on what to do either. I mean I love Jeanne but I also love Kate and…" he began but was quickly stopped by the director.

"You LOVE her" she said in surprise "a moment ago you only really liked her"

Tony quickly realised what he just said and sighed "it's true" he said "I think I love her"

"Well this is a toughie" the director said.

"Yeah I mean I can't just keep pretending that everything is ok when all I'm thinking about is Kate and how much I miss her and how much she means to me" Tony said, tears swelling up in his eyes. Director Sheppard sighed and handed Tony a tissue. She'd never seen him like this before.

"Maybe you should go to Jeanne and talk about this whole situation. I mean if she really loves you then she'll understand" the director suggested but Tony shook his head.

"How am I supposed to say 'I love you but I'm also in love with another woman" he asked.

"I don't know but you better figure out something because she doesn't deserve to be lead on" the director told him and got up from her desk and walked over to the door. Tony turned round in his chair. "I'm not leading her on. I do love her…it's just…I think I love Kate more" he said quietly.

"Then tell her or you'll never forgive yourself if you lose her because she finds out the truth from someone else" the director told him and walked out of her office. Tony just sat in the chair thinking about Kate and what he was going to tell Jeanne. He knew he couldn't stay with her while he was in love with Kate. Tony nodded to himself. He knew what he had to do and he knew he had to do it sooner than later.


	8. Chapter 8: Kate saves another life

As Gibbs and the team rounded the corner to the warehouse, something in his gut was telling him not to go there but Ari's thug had told them that Ari and Kate would be there, so he had no choice but to ignore his gut and park the car.

Unbeknownst to them, Ari was watching them from the building across the street smiling to himself.

Gibbs, Ziva and McGee got out of the car and walked towards the warehouse but suddenly McGee stopped.

"What's wrong McGee?" Gibbs asked.

"I'm not sure we want to go in there" McGee said rather shaky.

"Yeah McGee's right" Ziva agreed "I mean why would one or Ari's men give him up like that? Mossad agents take loyalty very seriously"

"He would have no reason to lie considering he's lying in a hospital bed with a giant hole in his leg where his knee cap used to be: Gibbs said and walked away.

"There's always a reason to lie" Ziva mumbled.

"Ok lets search around the building first before we go in to see if there is any traps" Gibbs suggested sounding a lot braver than he really felt.

Gibbs had no idea what was coming over him. He was never scared about going into a warehouse and he never suggested searching around it first JUST in case. Gibbs sighed and slowly realized why he was acting so weird. The lives of his team were at risk and he was realizing how much that actually meant to him and most importantly, he wanted Kate back alive and safe and he had no idea how he was going to do it.

* * *

From the building across the street, Ari stood at the window watching Gibbs and his team circle the warehouse.

"Hmmm NCIS being cautious, that's new" he said and turned around to face Kate, who was pacing the room.

"What are you talking about Ari?" Kate asked, slightly concerned because whenever Ari mentioned NCIS it was never good.

"Over here Caitlin. Take a look" Ari offered grinning devilishly. Kate gave him an anxious look and slowly walked over to the window and looked out.

Kate's heart skipped a beat when she saw Gibbs and McGee walking towards the warehouse with a woman she'd never seen before.

Kate was startled when Ari suddenly mentioned "it's a shame though"

"What are you talking about" Kate replied without looking away from the window.

"Well" Ari exclaimed "it's a shame that 'm just going to have to kill them"

Kate turned quickly away from the window and glared at Ari. "What…how" she asked frantically hoping that Ari was bluffing.

"Well it's a funny thing loyalty" Ari explained "you see my thug as you so bluntly put it has led Gibbs and his team straight into my trap" Kate gasped and looked down at Gibbs and McGee.

Keeping her cool she replied "and how are you supposed to kill them from here? I don't see your sniper rifle"

Kate watched as Ari smiled and placed his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small black device with a red button on it.

"What's that?" Kate asked once again turning away from the window.

"Don't be so naïve Caitlin. You know exactly that this is a trigger for a bomb that I accidentally left in the warehouse across the street…oops" Ari said sarcastically.

Kate started to freak. She had to warn Gibbs somehow. She couldn't just jet him, McGee and the woman they are with to die. Kate smirked to herself as she came up with a very drastic and rash plan that could put her life and the lives of Gibbs and his team in danger.

* * *

Kate turned to Ari and said "I need to go to the bathroom".

Ari sighed and looked away from the window before replying "whatever Caitlin," he motioned for his thug to come over "would you please escort Miss Todd here to our facilities".

The thug nodded and took hold of Kate's arm. "I can walk myself" Kate snapped at the thug ripping her arm free of his grasp. The thug looked to Ari for support but was only met with his hand gesturing them to leave. Kate watched Ari turn back to the window with a huge smirk on his face before her and Ari's thug left the room.

Kate and the thug made their way down the hallway of one of the warehouses. Kate took in her surrounding and made sure she knew the fastest way to leave and warn Gibbs but first she had to take care of this thug. "I can't believe I've been reduced to taking you to the bathroom" the thug complained not looking at Kate.

"Well that is bad for you" Kate sneered turning to look at the thug. The thug turned to Kate and gave her a look of utter loathing she could tell that he was annoyed that she was talking back to him but she didn't care he wouldn't be conscious much longer anyway. The thug decided not to say anything and turned away seething to himself. Kate took her opportunity and grabbed the thugs arm.

"Wha…" he started but before he could finish Kate had flipped him on the ground grabbed his gun and banged it against his head.

Kate took the gun and ran, she ran faster than she could ever remember and before she knew it she was out side the warehouse running towards Gibbs who was only a few hundred meters away.

Gibbs, McGee and Ziva all walked up to the door of the warehouse all of them had a bad feeling but they couldn't just leave they had to at least see if Kate was here. Gibbs placed his hand on the doorknob and started to turn it.

Back in the warehouse Ari came out to see what all the noise was to find his thug lying unconscious on the ground with his gun missing. "DAMMIT CAITLIN" Ari yelled and ran towards the exit of the warehouse.

Kate could see Gibbs getting closer and closer and held her breath when she saw him with his hand on the doorknob. Kate didn't know whether she was close enough but she had to warn him. "GIBBS" Kate screamed trying to run faster. When Gibbs didn't look up Kate yelled again "GIBBS! NO THERES A BOMB". In the distance Kate saw Gibbs look up and turn around followed by McGee and the woman they were with.

"Kate?" Gibbs said under his breath when he turned and saw a female figure running towards him.

"THERE'S A BOMB" Kate yelled again only 100metres from Gibbs now. Gibbs took his hand off the doorknob and knew they'd been set up.

"Ziva, McGee get away from the building" he ordered his team. Ziva and McGee looked at each other concerned but followed Gibb's order anyway; they were just as confused as Gibbs as to why Kate was running towards them telling them there was a bomb.

Gibbs was just about to start running towards Kate when from out of nowhere Ari Haswari appeared and started shooting randomly before grabbing Kate and whispering something in her ear.

"Let go of her Ari, you son of a bitch or I swear I'll kill you" Gibbs yelled the anger flashing in his eyes. Ari didn't answer instead he just tightened his grip around Kate and smirked as he pulled a small black device out of his jacket pocket.

"GET DOWN" Gibbs screamed at McGee and Ziva as he realized what the device was. Gibbs, McGee and Ziva hit the ground as Ari pressed the button on the device and the warehouse behind hem exploded with such a bang that it would have been heard from space.

Once the dust had settled Gibbs started to get up and look around him. He got to his feet and looked where Kate was only a couple of minutes ago and his stomach dropped when he saw that she was gone and the warehouse across the street looked completely abandoned.

"Ziva, McGee you ok?" Gibbs asked looking around for his team. He felt some relief when he saw Ziva and McGee coming towards him.

"Yeah Boss we're fine" McGee answered brining his fingers to his ears trying to block out some of the sound. It was then that Gibbs noticed the blood on his sleeve.

"McGee your bleeding" Gibbs said with slight concern in his voice. McGee looked down at his arm before answering

"Oh that, it's nothing I just cut it on some shrapnel from the explosion". Gibbs gave him a look before turning back to the warehouse and replying "fine we'll get Ducky to look at it once we get back you might need stitches or something." Gibbs felt McGee wince at the mention of stitches and managed to contain his smile. He gestured for McGee and Ziva to follow as him as he made his way over to the other warehouse with the hope of finding some sign of Kate and where she might have gone.


	9. Chapter 9: Ari makes a threat

"What happened?" Director Sheppard asked looking at Gibbs and Ziva "Where is Agent McGee?"

"Getting checked out by Ducky" Gibbs answered meeting the Directors stare. Director Sheppard's looks softened as she replied "is he ok?"

"Fine," Gibbs replied "just needs a couple of stitches for a cut on his arm". The Director looked relieved at this news and asked again "What happened?"

"Well," Gibbs started "Ari's thug set us up".

"What?" Director Sheppard exclaimed "how?"

"He led us to a warehouse which Ari had wired with a bomb," Gibbs explained "we only lived because he told Kate about it and she managed to warn us and…" Gibbs began.

"What! Agent Todd was there!" the Director said in amazement "and she saved your lives"

"Yeah she did" Gibbs said.

"How?" Director Sheppard asked, still dumbstruck about everything that was happening.

"Well she somehow got away from Ari and ran across the street yelling at us not to go into the building because it was wired to explode" Gibbs explained.

The Director was still so surprised about what happened that all she could do was ask more questions to hopefully understand more.

"Where is she?" she asked.

"No idea" Gibbs said in disappointment, slumping into his chair "Ari grabbed Kate before she got to us and blew the building up. Once the smoke and the dust cleared they were gone. We checked every warehouse around it but we couldn't find her"

Everyone sat in silence knowing how close they had come to Kate and how far away they still were.

Out of the blue, McGee spoke up. "Uh boss" he said "can I ask a question?"

"What is it McGee" Gibbs said, frustrated at the day's events.

"Well I couldn't help but wonder where Kate's family is" McGee said.

Gibbs sat up in his chair. "What do you mean McGee?"

"Well we haven't seen them since Michael got shot at this morning" McGee pointed out.

"McGee's right. They haven't come back from the lunch they left for like eight hours ago" Ziva agreed.

"About another thing that has mysteriously disappeared" the Director added "what's happening with the murdered petty officer. I haven't heard an up date from that since yesterday"

"Oh that" Gibbs remembered "I passed it onto Agent Hallmark"

"YOU WHAT!" the Director said raising her voice "DID I EVER GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO REASSIGN THE CASE TO ANOTHER AGENT?"

"no" Gibbs said defending himself "but I thought that getting Kate back seemed a little bit more important at the moment"

The Director sighed and said calmly "go get the case of Agent Hallmark and find out who killed the petty officer now"

"No" Gibbs said short and firmly.

"Excuse me. What did you say" the Director asked, knowing that she'd heard correctly.

"I said no" Gibbs repeated and turned to his computer.

"Special Agent Gibbs" the Director said, getting annoyed "the Caitlin Todd case isn't in our jurisdiction anymore"

Gibbs didn't know whether to be shocked or confused. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"When Agent Todd 'died' her employment was terminated at this agency" Director Sheppard explained.

"Why" Gibbs asked again. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Because NCIS don't employ dead people. Once she was pronounced dead, her employment was terminated. So technically she is a civilian being held by a terrorist. She has nothing to do with NCIS anymore and hasn't for the past two years. In fact, she isn't even considered an Agent anymore" the Director explained.

Gibbs was lost for words. How could the Director expect him to drop the case when Kate's life was in danger?

"I'm not dropping the case" he said firmly.

"You will or your employment will ALSO be terminated" the Director threatened.

"You're going to fire Gibbs" Ziva said in amazement.

"If he doesn't drop the case, yes" the Director answered.

"Well you might as well fire me because I'm not dropping this case" Gibbs said strongly and gave the Director an 'I'm afraid of you' stare. "Not after what she's done for us"

"What exactly has she done for us?" the Director asked, hoping that she had caught onto Gibbs's bluff and Gibbs stood his ground.

"You want to know what she did for us." Gibbs said "well let's use today as an example. This morning she saved DiNozzo's life by stopping Ari shooting a bullet into the back of his head. This afternoon, she saved Ziva's life, she saved McGee's life and she saved my life by stopping us from going into a rigged building. I mean if it wasn't for Kate putting her life at risk not once but twice today, you would have lost an entire team in the space of 7 hours"

The Director stood there in silence. Gibbs was right. If it wasn't for Kate then she would have lost four Agents.

"I owe my life to her and I am not going to rest until I find her" Gibbs continued.

The Director nodded her head slowly in agreement.

"So Director, what it going to be?" Gibbs asked without showing any emotion on his face.

The Director turned around and began walking back to her office but stopped when she got to the stairs and said "bring her home" and continued on her way.

Gibbs gave his team the nod of approval and each member went to work. High above them, Director Sheppard watched from the balcony. She watched as the team searched through files, made phone calls and re-looked over evidence in an attempt to save their missing agent.

* * *

Tony paced the waiting room of the hospital and had been ignoring the constant phone calls from Ziva he couldn't talk to her right now, he had to talk to Jeanne it seemed like it was taking forever for the clerk to check whether she was available or not. 

After what seemed like forever the clerk came towards Tony. "Mr. DiNozzo?" the clerk said formally and stood in front of Tony.

"Yeah?" Tony replied turning to face the clerk.

"Dr Benuit is in surgery at the moment she won't be out for a few hours. Would you like me to tell her you called?" the clerk said giving Tony a neutral look.

"No that's fine," Tony answered "I'll just catch her at home thank you" and with that Tony left.

Tony had hardly moved a few steps when his phone rang again, deciding he couldn't ignore her any longer Tony picked up the phone and said "What is it Ziva?"

"Gibbs wants to know where you are" Ziva answered feeling slightly annoyed at Tony's tone of voice.

"Tell him I'll be back in 15" Tony said and before Ziva could say anything else he hung up the phone and headed out of the hospital.

* * *

Kate sat tied to a chair watching Ari pace the room. She knew she was going to be punished for what she did but she was praying that Ari would leave Gibbs out of it. 

Suddenly Ari stopped pacing and turned to her. "why did you do it Caitlin?" he asked.

Kate was stubborn and stood her ground and said nothing. Ari shook his head. "Caitlin don't act like this" he said but Kate still said nothing.

"DAMMIT CAITLIN!" Ari yelled, getting sick of the mucking around "WHY DID YOU DO IT?"

Kate looked directly into Ari's eyes and said "because I don't want you to hurt Gibbs or anyone else"

Ari shook his head. "Oh Caitlin. I told you what I was going to do if you ever made contact with NCIS" he said.

"Enlighten me" Kate said sarcastically "was that the threat of locking me away for all eternity or the threat of killing me or…"

"THE ONE WHERE I WOULD KILL THOSE YOU LOVED!" Ari bellowed.

Kate's stomach was churning inside but she had to remain calm or Ari would know he was getting to her. "What's the matter Caitlin, had you thought I'd forgotten about that?" Ari sneered bringing his face to Kate's.

Kate took a breath before replying "no I just didn't want them hurt"

"Well you should have thought of that before you disobeyed me" Ari said and turned away from Kate and moved to the other side of the room. "Please don't hurt them" Kate pleaded trying to appeal to Ari's better nature although she was very certain it didn't exist. "Oh not to worry Caitlin," Ari exclaimed "I won't hurt them……….physically". Kate looked at Ari confused and asked "what do you mean?"

"Well that nice doctor girlfriend of Agent DiNozzo's," Ari smirked "I was only bluffing before but after your little outburst I think I might have to make good on my threat".

"Please Ari she has nothing to do with this just leave her alone" Kate begged realizing that the way she had warned Gibbs was a huge mistake.

"Why can't you see by hurting Agent DiNozzo I hurt you so I'm sorry Caitlin but it has to be done" Ari replied and before Kate could say anything else Ari had left the room and Kate was left to think about how her action could have just cost Tony the woman he loves and the pain that she was about to cause him. Once again Kate couldn't contain herself any longer and broke down into sobs.

"I'm so sorry Tony," Kate sobbed "I'm so sorry". Kate buried her head in her hands and let all her welled out feelings escape in her tears.

* * *

As Tony walked out of the elevator, he saw Gibbs and the team working away hard. He turned the corner and almost ran into McGee rushing about. 

"What is going on here?" Tony asked but then he saw McGee's arm. "McGee, what happened to your arm?" he asked in shock.

"Building blew up" McGee said as if it happened everyday.

"What!" Tony said in confusion and he turned to Gibbs. "What happened while I was gone?"

"Ari tired to kill us again" Gibbs said not looking up from his computer.

"You're kidding" Tony said in complete shock.

"Yeah DiNozzo. I usually joke about these sort of thing" Gibbs said standing up from is desk and giving Tony a nasty glare.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Tony asked quickly and took two steps backward.

"Yeah" Gibbs said "YOU CAN TELL ME WHERE THAT BASTARD TOOK KATE!"

Tony looked slightly confused. "How do you know she was there boss?"

"She saved our lives Tony" Ziva said walking up beside him.

"How" Tony asked.

"She ran across the street yelling 'don't go into the building it's rigged to explode" Gibbs said calming down slightly but after hearing this news Tony became rather excited.

"YOU SAW KATE!" he exclaimed. Tony couldn't believe that he'd missed Kate but he was about to ask another question when Kate's mother walked out of the elevator and walked towards them.


	10. Chapter 10: Ari's revenge

Gibbs stood up from his chair and extended his hand. "Mrs. Todd, it's good you could come but I was half expecting the whole family to come" Gibbs said, his arm still extended "we have some news…" but Mrs. Todd just stood there and gave Gibbs a cold demeaning stare and didn't accept Gibbs's hand, so he with drew it.

"I want nothing to do with you or NCIS ever again" she said sternly.

"Why?" Gibbs asked in surprise. Kate's mother always seemed like a really nice person.

"because NCIS cost me my daughter's life two years ago and almost cost me my son's life this morning" she said, keeping eye contact the entire time. "I will not lose any more children to you people"

Gibbs was dumbstruck. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "But your daughter isn't dead" he said, defending Kate.

"Well she might as well be" Mrs. Todd snapped back "her life is ruined and there is no guarantee that you'll get her back alive and safe". Mrs. Todd sighed and took a breath. "Look" she said "I've made my decision. I don't want you to call my family ever again and I want you to leave us alone. That man managed to fake Caitlin's death and kidnap her for two years and then tried to kill Michael with a sniper rifle. Who knows what he'll try next" Mrs. Todd paused for a second and continued "we're not safe with you" and she turned around and started walking back towards the elevator but stopped before she walked in and said "goodbye Agent Gibbs" and the doors closed.

The NCIS team just stood there and looked at each other in silence. They were still trying to process exactly what just happened.

"I' can't believe that just happened" Tony exclaimed still dumbstruck at the fact that Kate's mother had just said that. Gibbs looked at Tony and replied "I can"

"What," Tony said "How come?"

"Well think abut it DiNozzo, NCIS has already cost her Kate and her son almost died I wouldn't want to know us either" Gibbs answered and went back to working at his computer. "I guess" Tony replied and started to head back to his desk.

Before Tony had even gotten half way, the phone rang and McGee picked it up. Gibbs and the team stopped and waited for McGee to hang up.

"Boss, you have to go see this" McGee said quickly.

"What is it McGee?" Gibbs asked getting annoyed at playing games.

"We've received an encrypted message, Abby's almost cracked it but she's pretty sure it's for you" McGee answered and started running down towards Abby's lab. McGee had hardly started moving when Gibbs, Tony and Ziva got up and followed him.

* * *

Gibbs and his team ran into Abby's lab in record time, which didn't really surprise Abby.

"What have we got Abby?" Gibbs asked, extremely puffed.

"Well I only just finished cracking it and I haven't been game to look" she said.

"Why" Tony asked.

"Because the subject is titled "Bête Noire" Abby said looking worried at Gibbs. Gibbs suddenly went as white as a ghost.

"Gibbs are you ok?" Ziva asked concerned.

"Bête Noire means nightmare" Gibbs said.

"Yeah so" McGee asked catching on.

"Well Tony's Bête Noire was vampires…" Gibbs said but was quickly stopped by Tony.

"Who told you that?" he asked defensively

"Kate did. Anyway Abby's was autopsy but she conquered that fear when Ari held Kate, Ducky and Gerald hostage" Gibbs continued "and my Bête Noire has always been, and believe me I can't believe I'm admitting this, but my Bête Noire is that if anything happened to any member of my team, I would die" he said and looked around at his team "any of you"

"Oh Gibbs I never knew you cared so much" Abby said sweetly and gave Gibbs a hug, which he returned.

"Uh back on subject" Ziva said, breaking the moment "what has Bête Noire got to do with Abby's encrypted message"

"Because" Gibbs said slowly "I bet you that message is from Ari"

"What how would you know that?" Tony exclaimed looking at Gibbs.

"Because DiNozzo Ari knows exactly that losing any of you is my Bête Noire" Gibbs said.

Tony nodded and turned back to face Abby's computer screen. "Play it Abbs" Gibbs sighed and passed her the Caf-Pow he knew that she loved. Abby took it gratefully and pressed some keys on her keyboard.

Suddenly Ari's face popped up onto the screen and Tony could see Gibb's fist clench. "Hello Agent Gibbs," Ari said smugly "and I'm sure the rest of the team is there". Tony and Ziva looked to one another before Ari continued. "I'm sure you are well aware of Caitlin saving your life today. Well unfortunately for you and her she directly disobeyed my orders and I'm afraid you will have to suffer for that".

Tony, Gibbs, McGee, Abby and Ziva were all confused how Ari could make them pay. He didn't really know that much about them and if he killed them that wouldn't exactly be making them pay, it would be making Kate suffer.

As if by some chance Ari could read there minds, he smiled and said mockingly "don't worry Agent DiNozzo she didn't scream much……after I slit her throat that is". Ari gave out a small laugh and continued "don't come after Caitlin or things will get much worse". Tony stood gob smacked as Ari disappeared of the screen.

"Tony," Gibbs said softly. When he didn't get a response he used more force and yelled "DINOZZO".

Tony was brought out of his trance and suddenly processed what he'd just heard. "Oh my god Jeanne" Tony exclaimed and rushed out of Abby's lab so fast he had had a large head start before Gibbs, Ziva and McGee worked out what was going on and rushed after him.

* * *

Once Tony got to his and Jeanne's house, he noticed the door was slightly ajar and from first sight it looked like a bomb had gone off. Furniture was upturned every where and pieces of paper lie on the ground. Surprisingly it wasn't any of this that caught Tony's attention and caused his stomach to tie into knots. On the ground lie small amounts of blood and as Tony followed them towards the dining room they grew larger and larger and Tony didn't have to be a rocket scientist to know they belonged to Jeanne.

Tony turned into the dining room and almost collapsed when he saw Jeanne's body lying on the floor. Tony ran over and dropped to his knees beside Jeanne, even though he knew she was dead from all the blood, he still felt for a pulse. When Tony didn't find one he hopelessly started CPR. He loved Jeanne and he couldn't let her die.

* * *

Gibbs entered Tony and Jeanne's house and was startled at the mess he was met with. He also noticed the blood and without seeing it he knew that Tony was in for heartache. Gibbs entered the dining room and saw Tony desperately trying to bring Jeanne's lifeless body back to life. Gibb's knew it was hopeless and he couldn't let Tony just hurt himself more by trying. Gibbs motioned for Ziva and McGee to stay in the doorway he didn't think Tony would want them to see this.

"Tony," Gibbs said moving towards his senior field agent "Tony stop". Gibbs grabbed Tony by the shoulder and tried to pull him away, he was slightly shocked when Tony ripped his arm away and kept going, Gibb's knew he had to use more force. "DiNozzo stop" Gibbs said more forcefully this time and this time grabbed both of Tony's arms and pulled him away from Jeanne.

"No, let me go," Tony replied struggling to get free from Gibbs "I can save her…..I can save her".

Gibbs waited for Tony's struggling to stop before he let him go and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I should have saved her, I should have been here" Tony said fighting back tears.

Gibbs nodded and said "It's not your fault Tony".

Tony couldn't fight it any longer he fell to his knees and started to cry he had lost Jeanne the woman he loved and now they may not even get Kate back who he also loved. Tony continued to cry and was surprised when Gibbs joined him on the ground and pulled him into a hug.


	11. Chapter 11: The aftermath

Gibbs, Ziva, McGee and Abby all sat in silence in the squad room. It was almost 7am and they'd only just got back from Tony and Jeanne's apartment. Tony was down in autopsy with Jeanne's body, still unable to come to terms with what had just happened.

Ziva looked over at McGee then turned to face Gibbs. Both men were silent and deep in thought. Ziva then turned to Abby, who had tears swelling up in her eyes. Ziva thought for a moment and wondered why Ari chose to kill Jeanne and not one of them and why was Jeanne's death affecting everyone so much when they'd never even met her before?

Ziva couldn't take the silence anymore so she quietly said "Gibbs should we go down and see if Tony's alright?" When Gibbs didn't answer Ziva already knew that his answer was no and she knew that he was right, Tony needed time and that should be spent by himself but Ziva couldn't help but feel like she should see him after all she liked him a lot.

Ziva turned back to McGee and as if McGee read her mind, he asked "why did Ari kill Jeanne"

Gibbs looked up at his team and he said very passively "because he wanted to make Kate pay for what she did yesterday"

"Yeah I know" McGee said "but why kill Tony's girlfriend? I mean Kate's never met her before"

"Because" Gibbs said as he sighed "it's indirectly"

"What do you mean?" Ziva asked.

"Ari is making us all pay for what Kate did and he's doing it indirectly. By killing Jeanne, Tony is going through hell and by making Tony go through hell, we're also going though hell by watching Tony go through hell and uh you get the idea" McGee said speaking up.

"McGee's right" Gibbs agreed "it's going to kill Kate knowing that what she did has cost Tony his girlfriend. She's going to blame herself and…" Gibbs paused and took a deep breath.

"I know Gibbs, I'm worried too" Abby said finishing Gibbs's sentence.

Suddenly all eyes turned to Tony walking out of the elevator. His eyes were red and puffy from crying and his knuckles were bleeding from punching the wall too many times not to mention he hadn't changed since they left his house and he was still covered in Jeanne's blood.

"DiNozzo are you ok?" Gibbs said springing from his chair. Tony just looked at him and walked right past Gibbs and sat at his desk.

"Here Tony, let me clean you up" Ziva said moving over to Tony with a tissue but Tony jerked his hands away from Ziva and folded his arms. Ziva took two steps back and looked at Tony. His face was filled with hatred and anger. He just sat at his desk; his eyes just stayed focused on the black screen of his computer and said nothing.

Ziva turned back to Gibbs, McGee and Abby and gave them a pleading look; somebody had to do something she couldn't stand to see Tony like this. Ziva's eyes came to rest on Gibb's and he seemed to understand but Gibb's didn't want to face the truth that he didn't really know what to do either.

"Come on DiNozzo," Gibbs said and got up from his desk and walked over to Tony "let's go get you a fresh set of clothes". Gibbs lightly grabbed Tony's arm and tried to lead him out of the squad room, but Tony just sat there not saying a word still looking at his computer screen.

"McGee come over and help me" Gibbs exclaimed motioning for McGee to come over. McGee walked over and grabbed Tony's other arm. "On the count of three," Gibbs said getting ready to lift Tony from where he sat "one, two, and three".

It took all of Gibb's and McGee's strength to lift Tony and Gibbs was shocked at how limp he was, his legs gave way like they were jelly and McGee almost dropped him. "Come on DiNozzo, we are not carrying you all the way" Gibbs said sternly and lifted Tony up more; Tony slowly came round and managed to support his own weight.

Gibbs and Tony had gotten to the elevator and it had started to move before Tony spoke. "Boss," Tony sighed "all my clothed are at Jea…..my house".

Gibbs nodded and pulled the keys to is own house out of his pocket before replying "go wait at my place and I'll go pick up some stuff for you".

Tony took Gibb's keys gratefully and said "thanks boss". Gibbs looked at his senior field agent and felt an utter loathing for Ari, he had done this to Tony and for that the son of a bitch would pay. Gibbs placed a hand on Tony's shoulder and thought how tough the next few weeks and maybe even the rest of his life were going to be for him. 'I'll get you Ari, I'll get you' Gibbs thought as the elevator arrived at the exit of NCIS. Gibbs continued to plan his revenge on Ari even as he and DiNozzo left NCIS and headed to Gibb's house.

* * *

Kate sat on her bed in her empty room, bawling her eyes out after hearing about what Ari did to Tony's girlfriend. She couldn't imagine what Tony was going through but she did know it was all her fault.

All of a sudden, Ari opened the door and walked in, grinning from ear to ear. Kate looked up at him and wiped away tears. She couldn't let Ari see her like this or he'll know that what he did affected her so she sarcastically said "Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much. You're not that good"

Ari just smiled to himself and said "oh Caitlin. There's no need for that. I know that you feel bad for what happened to Agent DiNozzo's girlfriend"

Kate couldn't hold it in anymore and burst into tears again. Ari quickly turned away. As much as he wanted to make her pay, he hated seeing her like this. "Caitlin stop!" he yelled, still facing the door. Kate slowly stopped crying and looked up at him. "I wish I hadn't had to do that but you gave me no choice" he said sympathetically "all you have to know now is that if you never disobey me like that again; then I'll never have to do what I did to anyone else, understand"

Kate just gave him an evil look and asked "but why Tony's girlfriend? Why her? She never did anything?"

"I chose her because of both of you" Ari explained "Agent DiNozzo stopped me from shooting your brother yesterday morning and you stopped me from killing Gibbs and his team yesterday afternoon. You see by killing the girlfriend of an NCIS Agent, it affects everyone because everyone suffers. So if you never disobey me again, then nothing like what happened will happen again"

"I'm sorry Ari; please leave NCIS out of this" Kate begged with a pleading look in her eyes.

"Well you should have thought about that before you defied me" Ari replied smugly with no remorse at all before starting to leave the room. "Now I will be gone for a few hours so I want you to be good for Yossi here" he said placing a hand on his thugs shoulder.

Kate looked up and exclaimed "where are you going?"

"Well I'm giving my sister a second chance" Ari answered stopping and turning to face Kate.

"What, why?" Kate said "she betrayed you; she shot you…..supposedly"

A creepy smile came across Ari's face before he replied "no matter what she did. We're family and Mossad Agents are very loyal when it comes to family. She might come around" and with that Ari left the room and closed the door behind him. Kate just sat on her bed and wondered what Ari would do to Ziva is she said no.

* * *

Tony walked into Gibbs's house. It was kind of messy and smelt of sawdust. Tony had no doubt that this was due to Gibbs's boat building in his basement. He walked around the house still trying to process everything that was happening. As he passed Gibbs's mantle-piece, he noticed something that he'd never noticed before. On Gibbs's mantle-piece sat photos of the team. As he scanned them, he saw pictures of Gibbs and Abby, Gibbs and Ducky and a picture of the entire team, both recent and from the time Kate worked there.

Suddenly the door opened and Gibbs walked through. "Ok DiNozzo…I've got some clothes for you" Gibbs said handing Tony a fresh set of clothes. Tony took on look at the clothes and dropped them, turning away.

"What's wrong DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, still concerned for his agent.

"It's just that…" Tony began "that Jeanne gave those to me…when…we…first moved in as a sort of house warming present" he said, on the verge of tears again.

"Oh" Gibbs said, feeling kinda bad for bring over the clothes "well you can have some of my clothes to wear then" Gibbs said picking up Tony's clothes and placing them on a chair and he motioned for Tony to follow him to his bedroom.

Tony entered Gibbs's bedroom and saw even more pictures but it was one in particular that caught his eye. On the table next to Gibbs's bed sat a photo in a very decorative frame. Tony walked up to the photo and picked it up while Gibbs looked through his closet for some clothes. Tony looked down at the photo of him, Kate and Gibbs. He remembered back to when the photo was taken. Abby took it when they were down in her lab a couple of years back and she must have given a copy to Gibbs.

"That ones my favourite in case you haven't worked out by now" Gibbs said as he handed Tony some clothes. Tony looked down and saw a pair of grey track pants and a white shirt. "They should fit" Gibbs said "they're from my marine days"

"Thanks boss" Tony replied still looking at the clothes.  
"Now go get cleaned up DiNozzo, the bathroom is down the hall" Gibbs answered back and motioned towards the bathroom. Tony nodded and headed towards the shower. A thought crossed Tony's mind. By showering he'd be washing Jeanne's blood off himself and he bloody clothes would most probably be thrown away. Is that what will happen to Jeanne? Would she be forgotten and thrown away like his clothes? No matter what, Tony wouldn't let that happen. He owed her that much. Tony continued thinking as he entered Gibbs's bathroom and shut the door behind him.

* * *

Ziva and McGee were still sitting in the squad room in silence. They were still thinking about Tony and what he was going through but before Ziva could think about it any further, she was startled by the sound of her phone ringing. She looked down at her phone and realised that it was the phone only Mossad Agents contacted her on.

McGee looked up at Ziva and asked "what's wrong"

"Oh nothing" Ziva said "probably just a wrong number but I better take it just in case" and she walked away and went behind the stairs.  
"Hello, who is this?" she demanded for a response.

"Why Ziva, is that anyway to speak to your brother?" came a familiar voice on the other end of the phone


	12. Chapter 12: Secrets and lies

"Ari?" Ziva said surprised that he was contacting her "what the hell do you want?"

"Well Ziva. I'm calling to give you a second chance" Ari answered smugly.

"A second chance?" Ziva repeated "for what?"

"At joining me and becoming a family again"

"why would I ever want to do that?" you're a terrorist"

"Because we're family and I'd really hate to hurt you"

"Look Ari. You faked Kate's death and held her for two years, you tired to blow me and my team up and now you've killed Tony's girlfriend. I don't want anything else to do with you and if you ever contact me again then I'll kill you" and with that Ziva slammed her phone shut and turned around only to be met by McGee giving her a scared and confused expression.

"Remind me to never call you by accident" McGee said still giving Ziva weird looks.

"What are you talking about McGee?" Ziva asked, hoping that he hadn't heard too much "how much of that did you hear?"

"Just you threatening the wrong number that if they ever call you again you'd kill them" McGee said and then added "why are you threatening a wrong number?"

"Because…ummm they always call me and they aren't getting the hint that I'm not some guy called David Bennett" Ziva lied and walked past McGee and sat at her desk.

Just as she sat down, her phone went off again but instead of it being a phone call, it was a text message. Ziva opened the message and it read _'Meet me at our usual meeting spot or Caitlin dies'_

Ziva shook her head in annoyance and got up from her chair and grabbed her jacket.

"Where are you going?" McGee asked Ziva as he walked over to her desk.

"I'm going to get some coffee, do you want some?" Ziva said covering her real agenda.

"Oh sure I guess" McGee said surprised that Ziva was actually going to get HIM coffee.

"Ok if Gibbs calls, then tell him I'll be back soon" Ziva told McGee and made her way to the elevator.

* * *

As Ziva made her way down the alleyway behind the local pizza store she saw a familiar figure. Anger swelled up inside her as she quickened her pace towards her soon-to-be-dead brother.

Ari smiled as he saw his sister walk quickly towards him but he didn't expect what came next. Instead of a hello or a sarcastic comment, Ziva greeted him with a hard slap across his face.

Ari rubbed his slightly sore jaw. "Not bad" he said "almost as good as Caitlin"

"Almost as good!" Ziva said, slightly insulted.

"Yeah well she's had longer to perfect it" Ari explained.

"Hmm," Ziva said smugly "I like her already"

"Enough chit chat," Ari replied still rubbing his jaw "are you going to join me or not".

Ziva took a couple of steps away from Ari and leant against the wall of the alleyway. "How about no" Ziva answered and gave Ari a demeaning stare.

"I'm very disappointed Ziva, I thought family was important to you" Ari came closer to Ziva as he said this and placed a friendly hand on her arm.

Ziva looked down at his hand before pulling away and saying "we stopped being family when you went rogue from the Mossad".

Ari gave Ziva a look of anger and hatred but quickly regained his composure. "I'm sorry to hear you say that" Ari sighed and started to leave, Ziva was relieved to think that Ari was going to go and leave her alone but before she could turn away as well Ari turned back around. "Oh by the way," Ari exclaimed "I'll be sure to tell Caitlin it's your fault when I kill her".

Ziva looked up at Ari and saw a look cross his face for a split second. She knew that look and she knew what she had to do. "You're bluffing" Ziva said and stood up straight again as the wall was starting to be really uncomfortable.

"And what if I'm not," Ari replied "you have just condemned Caitlin to her death bed. Do you really think you could live with that?" Ziva looked at Ari and knew that she hated this man; he didn't even feel like her brother anymore, he was a stranger to her.

_A six year old Ziva followed her older brother Ari out to their backyard. She'd just been yelled at by their father and Ari had said that he had a surprise for her. Ziva walked into a small wooden house that occupied the area and saw Ari fiddling around in a small chest of drawers. "What are you showing me Ari" Ziva said in her small naive voice._

"_You'll see" Ari said and continued searching until he found what he was looking for. He motioned for Ziva to come closer to him so Ziva walked up to her brother. "Hold out your hand and close your eyes" Ari said, Ziva did this and felt Ari's hand touch hers as he placed something in her open palm. "Ok open them" Ari said and took a step back. Ziva opened her eyes and saw a gold necklace in her palm. On the end of the necklace was the sign of her religion, the sign of a Jew. _

_Ziva looked at it a little longer before she said "what's this for?" _

_Ari came to Ziva and placed a hand on her shoulder. "This is for your memories, if we ever get separated I want you to have this and remember me and where you came from". _

_Ziva looked at the necklace again and was grateful that she had her brother, he was the one who kept her going through her father's long absences. Little did she know what was in the future and how much Ari knew about what her father was up to?_

Ziva subconsciously started playing with her necklace that she had meant to get rid of it a long time ago, but somehow it defined who she was and where she had come from.

Ziva was suddenly aware of Ari's eyes on her. "I remember too Ziva," Ari said with a hint of genuine caring in his voice "us being family is why I'm offering you this chance, please take it I'd hate to have to do anything to you".

Ziva was shocked at how much sincerity was in Ari's voice. It was like the Ari she once knew but she still couldn't go back there and she couldn't forget what he had become.

Ziva turned away and started to head back towards her car. "I mean it Ziva" Ari said "I will kill her" Ari yelled after her.

Ziva turned to face Ari momentarily before walking away again and answering as she went "Goodbye Ari".

Ari shook his head and headed back to Caitlin, maybe she could convince Ziva to join him because no matter what had happened between them she was still his sister and he remembered just as clearly as Ziva the moment he had given her that necklace. He turned around again just in time to see Ziva's car drive past the alleyway. Ari sighed and once again started walking back to Kate.

* * *

Kate sat on a chair in the main room where most of Ari's thugs were. They were all sitting around talking and playing cards and keeping an eye on Kate at the same time.

Suddenly Ari burst into the room, sending the door flying open. He looked around the room where he saw Kate sitting and his thugs' playing cards.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?" Ari demanded. Ziva knocking him back on his offer had only just process in his mind and now he was angry, really angry. "WHY IS SHE OUT OF HER ROOM" he yelled pointing at Kate "AND WHY ARE YOU PLAYING CARDS? IS THIS WHAT I'VE TAUGHT YOU?"

Kate and Ari's thugs all jumped at Ari's sudden outburst.

"WELL?" Ari continued yelling.

One of Ari's thugs by the name of Daniel jumped up and grabbed Kate by the arm. "I'll take her back" he said and started leading her away.

"You're hurting me" Kate said, trying to pull her arm away.

"Oh sorry" Daniel said, loosening his grip but another one of Ari's thugs by the name of Eitan saw this and leaped up and grabbed onto Kate.

"You're being soft" Eitan said, holding Kate tightly.

"You're hurting me" Kate said more forcefully this time.

"Sorry did you say something" Eitan said sarcastically and held on tighter.

Kate knew what she had to do.

"YOU'RE HURTING ME" she said raising her voice loud enough that Ari could hear. Anger flashed across Ari's face before he turned and shot Eitan in the foot.

"Daniel I'm sure you can handle Caitlin" Ari said. Daniel nodded and grabbed Kate by the arm again, being careful no to grab her to hard in case Ari saw; after all he didn't want a bullet in his foot too.

Kate looked behind her as she was being led away and once they were out of earshot she turned to Daniel and asked "what is going on? What is all this about?"

Daniel loosened his grip on Kate and looked at her. "I don't know what you are talking about" he replied and looked straight ahead again.

"Oh come on" Kate exclaimed "you're the only one who's nice to me and you actually seem to go out of your way to do it…plus you don't even look Israeli"

Daniel was thrown by Kate's questions; he had to think of something fast if he wanted to stop her from finding out the truth. "I'm just different and frankly I don't have to tell you anything" Daniel answered and sighed in relief as he thought that should throw her off for a little while at least.

"You do realise that I could scream at any moment and Ari would come and soot you" Kate said smugly and gave Daniel a look that he'd seen her give Ari many times.

"You wouldn't dare" Daniel said pretty sure that Kate wouldn't deliberately get someone shot even if they were holding her hostage.

"Watch me" Kate said and took a big breath before preparing herself to scream. Daniel moved faster than he had in his life and placed his hand gently on Kate's mouth.

Kate stopped what she was doing and moved Daniel's hand away before saying "now are you going to tell me what's going on?"

Daniel turned away from Kate and mumbled "Geez Fornell was right. You can be a bitch when you want to be"


	13. Chapter 13: Playing the part

"What did you say?" Kate said shocked by what she had just heard. Daniel quickly clapped his hand over his mouth realising he had just slipped up. "Look," he said "I'm sorry I called you a bitch…please don't tell Ari".

"I'm not going to tell Ari because I know I can be a bitch" Kate said quickly "but why did you say Fornell? How do you know him?" Daniel had to think quickly because Kate was asking too many questions. "Look I don't have to say anything," Daniel said motioning for Kate to get into her room "please get in there".

"No," Kate said firmly "you will tell me exactly what is going on or I WILL scream".

"You wouldn't get me shot, I know you to well now" Daniel replied but Kate put her foot down and stayed put. "You will tell me now" she demanded.

"Fine," Daniel agreed "I will tell you but can we please go in the room".

"No here is fine" Kate said smugly, knowing that she was getting to him. Daniel was becoming a bit edgy not that he was about to reveal all. "What if Ari hears us" he said looking over his shoulder and then back at Kate.

"Well you either tell me now or one of two things will happen," Kate said "one, I Will scream and Ari will come here and shoot you or two you waste time now and then tell me and then Ari will probably come and kill you for betraying him…if that's what you're doing".

"Ok" Daniel said raising his voice ever so slightly, getting annoyed that Kate wasn't going to drop it now. "Ok I know Fornell because I work for him" Daniel said with a sigh. Kate was shocked.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Kate demanded.

"My name is Matthew Fergon," Daniel replied "I'm an undercover FBI agent working to bring Ari Haswari down". Kate's heart skipped a beat; here standing next to her was an FBI agent who works for Fornell. This could finally be her way out. "Are you here to help me?" Kate asked hopefully. Daniel shook his head "my orders are not to help you" he said not making eye contact with Kate. Kate took a step back in surprise. "Your orders" she repeated. Then something struck her and she said "Does Fornell know I'm alive?" Daniel nodded his head slowly. Kate's eyes were wide open in surprise. "How long has he known for?" she asked needing to know.

"About 8 months but he's known Ari's had a hostage for about 2 years" Daniel said. Kate couldn't believe what she was hearing. "TWO YEARS" Kate said raising her voice. "Sssh" Daniel said, trying to quieten her "not so loud somebody might hear you".

Daniel could see that Kate was getting angrier by the second. ''Look" Daniel said gently grabbing Kate's arm "I'm sorry. I'd like to help you but I can't"

Daniel used his other hand while he was talking to Kate and grabbed the keys to Kate's room from out of his pocket.

"No it's not that you can't help me, it's that you WON'T help me because you don't want to screw over your boss" Kate yelled and started to turn and walk quickly away.

Daniel rushed towards her and grabbed her arm again, this time more firmly. "Please Kate, just wait" Daniel pleaded and while Kate was distracted by his talking he subtlety slipped the keys to her room into her pocket.

Kate glared at Daniel and pulled her arm away before replying "It's Caitlin to you" and she ran off down the hallway, running past her room. Daniel sighed as he watched Kate run off and he started thinking what he was going to tell Ari.

Before Daniel even had time to blink, Ari came down the hallway. Daniel took a deep breath when Ari came to a stop in front of him.

"Where is Caitlin?" Ari asked "she's supposed to be in her room"

Daniel knew that even though Ari was trying to contain his anger and refrain from shooting him, he knew that Ari's temper was boiling over.

"I don't know" Daniel sighed.

"What do you mean you don't know" Ari replied loudly.

"Well I put her in her room and I went to the bathroom and when I came back, she was gone" Daniel said quickly trying to cover his tracks.

"Well did you lock the door?" Ari asked in a demeaning tone.

"Of course I locked it" Daniel lied and then to add to his lie, he felt around in his pocket.

"Dammit" Daniel yelled "she stole my keys"

Ari sighed and motioned for his thugs including the injured Eitan to come over. "Ok" Ari said "Eitan, you, Aharon and Calev search this entire warehouse and don't stop until you find her"

Eitan nodded and he and the other men left and started to search.

"I'll help them" Daniel offered and started to follow them.

"No Daniel" Ari said, stopping him "you and I are checking the roof and outside. Who knows, maybe she's deciding to risk it again"

Daniel sighed and hoped that Ari wasn't too angry at him before asking "do you really think she would jump?"

"No" Ari replied "but someone standing on the roof in a _abandoned_ warehouse may be a little noticeable"

Daniel nodded and followed Ari as they made their way onto the roof. He felt guilty about what he did but he had to maintain his cover and he hoped that Kate would give him a second chance to explain things.

* * *

Kate stood silently with her hands on the roof barrier. She didn't know what was going on and she didn't like it either. Kate looked out over her location and saw nothing; 'nothing' she thought 'how could anyone ever find her when all that was here was nothing'.

Kate gave a loud long sigh and her mind switched to her team at NCIS. All she wanted to do was to see them all again, to see Tony again. A tear started to roll down Kate's cheek as she thought more and more about her life before Ari came into it.

Kate's sadness suddenly turned into anger as she remembered what Daniel had told her. He was the only one who could help her at the moment and he wasn't going to. Hatred became Kate's main feeling as she realised that Daniel could be her way of seeing Tony again and he was preventing that.

Before Kate could think anymore, she heard the door to the roof open behind her. Kate turned around and saw Ari and Daniel standing behind her.

"Ah Caitlin" Ari said "we finally found you"

"What do you want Ari?" Kate replied glaring at Daniel. Daniel looked at the ground.

"Daniel" Ari exclaimed making him jump "would you please escort Caitlin back to her room". Daniel stepped forward and once again, grabbed Kate's arm. Kate pulled away and gave Daniel a glare that represented her betrayal and then walked past him and Ari and made her way off the roof and through the door with Daniel in pursuit.

* * *

It'd been two days since Jeanne's death and it was only really now starting to sink in to Tony that she was gone. Gibbs had allowed him to stay with him for a while, while he was coming to terms with everything that had happened. Tony looked at the alarm clock next to the coffee table. It read 11:24am. Tony sighed and got up from the couch and made his way over to the fridge to make himself a sandwich. He was just about to spread the butter when Gibbs came in through the door.  
"DiNozzo, I didn't know you were up" Gibbs said, slightly surprised.

"Yeah been up for a while" Tony answered.

"You do realise that you are about to spread grease on your sandwich there" Gibbs said with a chuckle.

Tony looked down at his sandwich and saw that the butter he was about to spread was in fact the grease Gibbs uses to make his boat. Tony pushed it aside and asked "why would you leave grease on the bench for"

Gibbs shrugged. "Because I was going to use it and I put it down for a second"

Tony sighed and walked back into the lounge room and sat down on the couch again. Gibbs looked at Tony with concern in his eyes. Tony hadn't said much over the past two days and this was worrying him.

"DiNozzo" Gibbs said walking over to him "wanna go get a coffee?"

"Nah I'm fine" Tony said not even looking up.

"Ok fine let me rephrase that" Gibbs said sternly "you and I ARE going to get a coffee. Now get up off your bum and move it to the car"

"Yes boss" Tony said automatically and got up off the couch and made his way to the car. Gibbs just shook his head and followed his depressed agent, unaware that they were being watched through the lens of a sniper scope.


	14. Chapter 14: Kate's back

Ziva and McGee sat at their desks in silence, it had been days since they had last heard from Tony and Ziva was starting to worry. "Do you think he'll be ok" Ziva asked looking at McGee. McGee turned and was about to reply when the elevator opened and Gibbs walked in closely followed by Tony.

Ziva and McGee quickly got up from their chairs and sped walked over to Tony and Gibbs. "Tony are you alright?" Ziva asked him out of concern. Tony just ignored her and sat down at his desk. Ziva was slightly shocked at the fact the Tony had just ignored her but she did understand why.

As Ziva stood there looking at Tony, McGee turned to Gibbs. "Is he ok boss?" he asked.

"What do you think McGee" Gibbs said in a matter of fact tone "his girlfriend was only murdered two days ago and the bastard responsible is still out there"

McGee nodded in understanding and walked back to his desk and looked over at Ziva. She was trying to get Tony to say something, anything by asking him twenty questions but all she was getting was either a yes, no or a shrug.

Ziva just gave up and decided to give Tony some space and went over to McGee. "Is he ok?" McGee asked hoping to get something from Ziva.

"Don't know" Ziva said "he's not saying much. McGee I'm really worried about him. I've never seen him like this before" Ziva added and McGee watched as a single tear began to roll down her cheek.

McGee got up from his chair and put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "He'll be ok" McGee said.

"How do you know that McGee?" Ziva asked.

McGee stopped and thought for a moment and answered "ok maybe I don't know…but I'm sure he will be"

"If only there was some way to break him out of this" Ziva said hopingly.

"There is" Gibbs said from his desk.

Ziva and McGee turned around to face Gibbs and Ziva asked "what is it Gibbs? We'll do anything. What can we do?"

"We can find Kate" Gibbs said simply "because I guarantee that she's the only one that can fix this now"

"Oh why didn't I think of that" Ziva said in a sarcastic and annoyed tone. Gibbs looked up from his computer and glared at her in a way that basically said 'say that again and I'll slap you so hard you'll regret working for NCIS'

Ziva took the hint and started to make her way back to her desk when she noticed the director walking towards them. Everyone except Tony looked up from their desks and stood as the director came to a stop in the middle of the squad room.

"Agent DiNozzo," the director said "may I speak with you for a moment?"

Tony got up from his desk and walked past the director and towards her office without saying a word. The director looked at Gibbs and Gibbs could see her concern and he knew how she felt, ever since Jeanne's death Tony hadn't been himself and he had hardly said a word since then. The director nodded at Gibbs and followed Tony upstairs and into her office, Gibbs watched after them and hoped desperately the Tony would be alright.

* * *

Tony sat in one of the chairs in the director's office and watched as the director took her position behind her desk. Tony leant back and sighed softly, he didn't want to talk but he knew that Jenny wouldn't let him leave until he did. "How are you?" Jenny asked suddenly which made Tony jump.

Tony shrugged and replied "fine".

Jenny nodded and looked away ad out the window of her office. "Lovely day" Jenny said still looking out the window.

Tony couldn't help but look outside and he to noticed that it was in fact a beautiful day. "Yeah," Tony answered "Jeanne would have loved it". Tony looked away as he realized what he had just said.

"Yeah I think she would have," Jenny said happy that this was finally getting somewhere "now how are you really?"

"Fine" Tony replied with a higher pitched voice than usual.

"Don't give me that Agent DiNozzo," Jenny exclaimed "the woman you loved just got murdered so you are not fine". Tony fought back tears; it was only just hitting him now that he would never see Jeanne again.

"Of course I'm not fine," Tony yelled "I'm the furthest thing from it". Tony got up out of his seat and turned away from Jenny.

"Maybe you should go home" Jenny said with concern in her voice.

Tony turned and looked at Jenny and replied "no I'm not going anywhere, I'm staying until the bastard that did this is dead and we get Kate back".

Jenny also got up and walked over to Tony, she placed a hand on his shoulder and said "I know but you'll be no use to anyone like this".

"I have to get her back Jenny" Tony sighed and let a single tear roll down his face "I can't lose her again".

"You really love her don't you?" Jenny asked cocking her head slightly.

"Yeah," Tony answered "I do". Jenny let her hand slide off Tony's shoulder as he walked out of her office and back down to the squad room. Jenny let out a sigh and sat back down behind her desk hoping that Tony would make it through this. Tony looked back to the window.

"You know what the worst bit is" he said to no one in particular.

"What?" Jenny asked surprised that Tony was continuing.

"The worst part is that I was going to break up with Jeanne the next time I saw her" Tony exclaimed with a low voice.

"Really" Jenny said in surprise "why?"

"Because I'm in love with Kate and I couldn't be with her when I was thinking about another woman. I owed it to her but now I feel guilty because the last thing she thought was that we were fine and…" Tony couldn't finish what he was saying and started to cry. Jenny took a step back and tried to hold back her own tears. She'd never really seen Tony cry before but she could see why he felt guilty.

"Go home Agent DiNozzo" she said firmly.

Tony looked up at her and also said firmly "no. I will get Ari and I'm not going to rest until Kate is home…" Tony paused for a second before finishing with "…with me" and he got up and left the room.

* * *

Kate paced her room, she was still trying to come to terms with the fact that the FBI was here and weren't going to help her. Kate was surprised when Ari came into the room followed by a couple of thugs. "What is it now Ari?" Kate asked not making eye contact with her captor.

"Oh nothing," Ari said "you're going for a jog".

At this Kate turned and gave Ari a confused look before answering "what…why?"

"Nothing much I just need you to convince my darling sister to join me" Ari said smugly.

"Why the hell would I do that?" Kate answered raising her voice.

"Because," Ari replied "I have snipers on standby to shoot Agent DiNozzo if you don't agree".

Kate gasped and glared at Ari, she really hated him and if the chance arose she would kill him with her bare hands.

"You're bluffing" Kate said trying to make Ari think that he couldn't scare her.

"Are you really willing to risk that Caitlin and the life of your friend?" Ari asked even more smugly and didn't even give Kate a chance to reply before he went to the door and said "I thought so; I'll send someone to collect you in half an hour. Ziva should be taking a run by then".

Kate looked slightly confused. "How would you know when she goes for a run?" she asked.

"Because" Ari said simply "she always goes for a run when she needs to think and believe me, she's got a lot to think about right now. Be ready in half an hour" he added and walked out of the room.

Kate cursed silently in her mind as Ari walked out of her room and locked the door behind him, she didn't know how she was going to even try and convince Ziva to betray her team and her friends. "Damn you Ari," Kate mumbled to herself "damn you".

* * *

Ziva sat at her desk looking up in the direction of the director's office. She'd watched Tony walk out of the director's office and go home. To some extent it made her feel better knowing that Tony wasn't at work and concentrating on Jeanne but there was a part of her that was thinking about something else. She didn't know what was creating all the butterflies in her stomach but whatever it was, it wasn't giving her a good feeling.

Ziva sighed and knew she needed to get some fresh air, so she turned to Gibbs, who was sitting at his desk typing something into his computer, and said "Gibbs is it ok if I go get some fresh air?"

Gibbs looked up from his monitor and said "fine but don't be long. We have a terrorist to catch" and went back to his business. Ziva nodded and placed her weapon in her draw. She wouldn't need it while she was going on a short jog.

Ziva grabbed her orange beanie, put it on her head and walked over to the elevator, all still with her stomach in knots. The elevator door opened and Ziva stepped in, not knowing how important this jog would soon mean to the team of NCIS.

* * *

The sun shone down brightly as Ziva made her way through the entrance to the park. She maintained a regular beat to her jog and was listening to music on her mp3 when all of a sudden, as Ziva made her way around the corner; she spotted a familiar figure standing about 500m on front of her. She stopped for a second and squinted in hope of making a better picture of the stranger. Suddenly it hit her. Ziva couldn't believe who the woman was. It was Kate! Ziva quickly looked all around her trying to spot any gunmen that would be accompanying Kate because Ziva knew that Kate wouldn't run away from Ari for a second time……would she? 


	15. Chapter 15: Ziva's betrayal

"Kate," Ziva said to herself not believing what she saw "is that really you?" Ziva stopped dead in her tracks and stared, she knew it was rude but she had to be sure. Ziva was just about to run towards Kate when she saw that Kate was coming towards her. Ziva snapped out of her trance and started to move slowly closer to Kate.

"Agent Todd" Ziva said as she came to a stop in front of Kate.

"Yeah," Kate said "but you can call me Kate".

Ziva just stood there and could feel how stupid she must look just staring with her mouth wide open. "How did you escape?" Ziva asked dreading and hoping at the same time what the answer could be.

"I didn't" Kate sighed and looked at the ground.

"What but you're right here and I don't see any guards you must have gotten away" Ziva replied quickly becoming slightly confused. Kate motioned with her head at a nearby tree and when Ziva looked over she saw a small red light positioned on the trunk.

"Why has Ari sent you here?" Ziva asked a little more coolly then she intended, she gave a small smile to Kate trying to soften her words.

"He has some crazy idea in his head that I can convince you to betray your team and your friends and join him again" Kate answered quickly folding her arms.

"What gives him that idea?" Ziva said getting even more confused as to why Ari was continuing to try and win her over.

"Well he seems to think that I can be very persuasive when I need to be" Kate answered sarcastically before adding "although I don't know why he would think I would want to".

Ziva smiled at this and couldn't help but liking Kate even though she had only met her a couple of minutes ago. "Hmm Ari has always thought very highly of himself" Ziva said smiling.

"So," Kate sighed "I guess you'd better give me an answer then"

"Yeah," Ziva replied "I probably should". Ziva looked at the tree again and saw that the little red light had moved and was now moving towards her. Ziva took a deep breath and then a thought hit her, she thought of a way she could stop Ari and save Kate.

"Agent Todd," Ziva said very formally "kindly inform my brother that I will give him my decision in an hour".

Kate stood gob smacked, how could Ziva even consider betraying NCIS. "What," Kate exclaimed "how could you even consider betraying them, it's completely…" Kate was cut off by Ziva winking at her, Kate finally understood. Kate nodded at Ziva and handed her a piece of paper.

"What's this?" Ziva asked.

"How you can contact Ari," Kate replied and walked away towards an unmarked van that had just pulled up.

"Good day Agent Todd" Ziva yelled after Kate and opened up the piece of paper only to find a bunch of numbers which Ziva guessed was an Israeli code. "Alright Ari," Ziva mumbled to herself "I'll join you".

* * *

Gibbs sat at his desk typing away about nothing in particular. He was trying to figure out a way that they could somehow track Ari but so far nothing was coming up. With Ziva out on her run, Tony at his place and Ducky still on suspension, all he had was McGee and Abby and neither of them were any help. 

Just as Gibbs was about to delete his 8th failed attempt of a plan, Ducky walked out of the elevator. Gibbs rose up from his seat and quickly walked over to Ducky. "Ducky, what are you doing here?" Gibbs asked in surprise.

"Why Jethro" Ducky said "I'm only here to gather a few things that I forgot to bring home with me" Ducky paused for a moment "you don't think I'll get into trouble do you?" he added.

Gibbs smiled at Ducky's innocence. Even though he was still slightly angry at Ducky for helping Ari fake Kate's death, Gibbs now had an understanding of why Ducky did it.

"No" Gibbs answered "it should be fine…" but before Gibbs could say anything else, Director Sheppard walked down the stairs.

"Dr Mallard" she said in surprise "what are you doing here?"

"As I was explaining to Jethro here I am merely just gathering up a few of my belongings" Ducky explained in his usual friendly tone. It would appear that even though the director suspended him, he held no personal grudge.

"Actually Dr Mallard" the director said quickly "there is a small matter I would like to discuss with you in my office"

Ducky nodded and followed the director up the stairs and into her office.

Just as Ducky closed the door to the director's office, Ziva came running through the elevator door.

"Gibbs you're never going to believe what just happened to me" she said panting.

"I thought the idea of going for regular runs was to get fit, not come back to my office out of breath" Gibbs said in a mocking sort of tone but his grin was quickly wiped off his face when he saw the seriousness on Ziva's face.

"Officer David, what's wrong?" Gibbs asked more formally.

"You are never going to guess who I ran into on my run" Ziva said, starting to catch her breath.

"Well considering there are millions of people in America, I doubt it" Gibbs said, getting annoyed at Ziva's game.

Ziva took a breath and said "ok. When I was running in the park…" she began.

"Get on with it Officer David" Gibbs demanded.

"I saw Kate" Ziva blurted out in between trying to catch her breath.

"What," Gibbs exclaimed "where, when did this happen?" Ziva put her finger up and indicated for Gibbs to wait until she had caught her breath.

Gibbs glared at Ziva as Ziva took one final breath before standing up straight and replying "At the park when I was out for my run, she was just there".

Gibbs walked right up to Ziva and stared down at her. "Why didn't you try and help her?" Gibbs asked raising his voice.

"Because," Ziva replied firmly keeping her ground "she was sent there by Ari and we were being watched by snipers". Gibbs took a deep breath trying to contain himself but Ziva could tell he was angry.

"Tell me exactly what happened" Gibbs demanded. Ziva nodded slowly and told Gibbs everything that had happened between her and Kate, even though Gibbs staring at her was very intimidating she knew that she had to tell him.

"So what did you say, you said no right" Gibbs asked giving Ziva a 'you better have said no or I'll kill you slowly' look.

"No," Ziva replied "I was thinking of saying yes". Gibbs looked at Ziva for a second before anger passed his face.

"THIS IS NO TIME FOR SARCASM AGENT DAVID" Gibbs yelled causing McGee to turn and look to see what was going on.

"I'm being serious Gibbs" Ziva answered resisting the urge to yell also.

Gibbs anger turned up a notch and he once again yelled "WHAT…WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU DO THAT?"

Ziva breathed in and continued to stay calm. "Because," she said "what better way to keep tabs on Ari than have someone on the inside". At this Gibbs seemed to become calmer and didn't yell once as Ziva explained her plan.

* * *

"Dr Mallard please shut the door" Jenny said politely and for about the millionth time that week took her seat behind her desk. 

"Of course" Ducky replied and did what he was asked. "If this is about me coming in here I was just collecting a few things, Jethro said it should be fine" Ducky said quickly.

"Ducky," Jenny sighed "it has nothing to do with that, in fact it's regarding your job". Ducky mumbled something under his breath and sat down where Tony was sitting a few hours ago preparing himself for bad news.

"I guess I'm going to need a reference then" Ducky said and took off his glasses and wiped them with a cloth from his pocket.

"Quite the opposite actually," Jenny replied with a smile on her face "I expect you back down in autopsy with in the week".

"What?" Ducky answered shocked.

"You should be back at work within the week" Jenny repeated.

Ducky cocked his head with a confused look on his face before saying "Umm I mean no disrespect Jenny but I was under the impression that I was getting let go after all I did assist in faking the deaths of a NCIS agent and a known terrorist".

"Well," Jenny said "I pulled some strings with my superiors and we ALL believe that there were extenuating circumstances and a 2 week suspension should be punishment enough".

Ducky continued to look on in shock; he couldn't believe he was getting off so lightly. "How did you do that?" Ducky asked not believing that Jenny's superiors had given up so easily.

"Let's just say I had some information that they'd rather not have made public" Jenny answered with a cheeky look in her eye.

Ducky nodded and slowly rose out of his seat as Jenny got up and opened the door. Ducky walked to the door and surprised Jenny when he grasped her hand and kissed it like a perfect gentleman.

"Thank you Jenny" Ducky said softly and walked out of the director's office and back down to the squad room. Just as the director was about to close the door she heard shouting and looked down to the squad room only to see Gibbs and Ziva standing in front of one another seeming as though they were in an intense conversation. Jenny sighed and walked down towards the squad room.

* * *

As the director walked down the stairs, she paused for a moment and watched Gibbs and Ziva deep in conversation but being where she was, it was hard to make out what they were saying, so she started to walk closer. 

"Don't you understand Gibbs? If I am on the inside I can tell you exactly how Kate is and where they are" Ziva said as she explained her plan.

"I know" Gibbs agreed "but I don't want you putting yourself in danger"

"I won't be" Ziva said defending herself "I can take care of my self and besides it'd be nice to get to know Kate before we save her" she added.

"Why?" McGee asked, butting in.

"Because I've heard so many stories about her. She seems like a really great person" Ziva said.

She was going to add something else but she saw the director walking towards them so she quickly asked "do we tell the director about this?"

Gibbs looked over his shoulder and shook his head.

"No" he said "we leave this between us" and he turned around "Jenny, how may I help you"? he said casually.

"Well for starters it's the director to you" she said "and secondly I came down here to find out what all the fuss was about?"

McGee and Ziva looked at each other and then back at Gibbs, who maintained a cool manner and answered "nothing _director_" emphasizing the word director in a sarcastic tone. Director Sheppard gave Gibbs an authorial stare and walked back to her office.

Gibbs turned back to his team. "Ziva" he said "how do you contact Ari?"

"I ring a number on a pay phone across the street from Joe's pizza and wait for it to ring out" Ziva stopped to remember the rest of the protocol and continued "then I wait for the phone to ring and I answer it. If everything goes right then it should be Ari on the other end of the phone and he'll arrange a meet somewhere"

Gibbs nodded and looked at Ziva. He really appreciated what Ziva was doing for Kate and the team. He knew she doesn't have to do what she was doing because if Ari finds out that she was betraying him, he'd kill her in a heart beat.

* * *

Ziva waited in the alleyway behind the local coffee shop, she didn't know why Ari had chosen such a public place to meet but he seemed very determined when she had spoken to him. Ziva had done what Ari said and called him via the pay phone outside the pizza place and it hadn't taken long once it rang out for Ari to ring her back. Ziva looked at her watch, Ari was late. 

Just when Ziva was about to give up Ari walked into the alleyway accompanied by two armed guards whom when he saw Ziva he motioned for them to stay a descent distance away. "Ah Ziva," Ari said as he came to a stop in front of Ziva "I thought I'd be hearing from you"

"Shalom Ari" Ziva replied sounding a little colder than intended. Ari gave Ziva a sideways glance but to Ziva's relief allowed her remark to slide.

"So are you going to join me?" Ari asked.

"Yes" Ziva answered and couldn't help but feel butterflies rise up in her stomach as her plan continued.

As Ari processed Ziva's response Ziva caught a glimpse of a dark haired female standing towards the end of the alleyway. "Why is Kate here?" Ziva asked slightly startling Ari.

"Leverage," Ari answered "I was going to threaten to kill her if you said no".

Ziva nodded slowly she knew Ari would have been bluffing but knowing him he would have gone after someone else, like Tony.

"Ari," Ziva said softly "can you please leave Gibbs and NCIS alone now?"

Ari smiled smugly and seemed proud with himself before replying "ah tell me how is Agent DiNozzo?"

Ziva gave Ari a look of hatred and said "How do you think?"

Ari once again smiled and said "I could have done a lot worse and believe me by the time this is over I would have".

Ziva let out a small gasp and replied "What do you mean?"

"Well," Ari answered "I can't have Gibbs getting off that easily can I?"


	16. Chapter 16: Ari's back

Gibbs and McGee sat at their desks in silence with Abby and Ducky also standing nearby. It had now been an hour since Ziva left to meet with Ari and everyone, including Gibbs, was a little on edge with worry. Gibbs looked around at his team and then suddenly banged his hands on his desk, making everyone jump.

"WHY DID I LET HER LEAVE?" he yelled at no one in particular.

"Uh because she was meeting Ari to become a double agent so she could save Kate" Abby said explaining the obvious.

"I KNOW THAT ABBY BUT WHY DID I LET HER GO?" Gibbs continued to yell. He knew the answer but he wanted to hear a better one from his team which should then make him feel better about his decision.

"Because we want Kate back and Ziva offered" McGee said looking slightly confused and Gibbs's sudden outburst.

Gibbs shook his head in frustration and rushed into the elevator.

McGee, Abby and Ducky all looked at each other.

"What was that for?" McGee asked Ducky. Hoping that the wise man would have some sort of answer.

"Because Timothy" Ducky explained "he only just realised that putting this plan into action meant that Ziva would be putting her life in danger and believe it or not but he does care about you guys"

McGee nodded and the three of them looked in the direction of the elevator simultaneously.

* * *

Gibbs ran down the route that Ziva took earlier that morning, hoping that he wasn't about to find her dead body. He rounded the corner and saw the local coffee shop, the place where Ziva told him that Ari wanted to meet her but as he ran into the alleyway behind it, I saw that no one was there. 

Panic filled Gibbs's body. Why had he let her do this? How could he be so stupid? There'd be plenty of ways to save Kate without placing another one of his agents in danger. Gibbs grabbed his head with his hands and began to think of a million and one ways that Ari was going to kill her once he found out. Gibbs was in such deep thought that he didn't notice a figure sneaking up behind him. He was about to reach into his pocket and call NCIS to form a search party for Ziva when two hands clapped him on the shoulder, making him jump slightly. Gibbs placed a hand on his weapon and turned to face his attacker. Gibbs was both shocked and relieved to find Ziva standing behind him trying to contain her laughter. "OFFICER DAVID," Gibbs yelled "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?"

Ziva smirked before replying "nothing in particular, but should have seen the look on your face".

Gibbs rolled his eyes at Ziva who was still trying to contain her laughter but only succeeded in making it come out as snorts.

"Come on," Gibbs said heading back out of the alleyway "let's go back to NCIS and you can tell me what happened".

Gibbs continued walking out of the alleyway and Ziva had to jog to keep up with his pace, she was sure being in the military had made him able to walk at what was normally a running pace.

"Gibbs," Ziva exclaimed once she had caught up "I can't go straight back to NCIS after meeting with Ari".

"Why not?" Gibbs demanded

"Because," Ziva sighed slightly puffed out but glad the Gibbs had stopped "How will that look me saying I will join Ari and then going straight to NCIS, Ari could be watching me, it's bad enough you're here now".

Gibbs thought about this, he knew Ziva was right but all he wanted to do was get her out of danger.

"You could just tell him you were keeping up the charade until you were told where Ari was so neither of you got caught" Gibbs said thinking that that would be a good enough excuse.

"Look Gibbs," Ziva replied "I want to go back but I can't not unless that's what Ari wants me to do".

Gibbs made a noise kind of like a growl and Ziva knew that he had caved but she also knew he wasn't happy about it. Gibbs walked out of the alleyway and back towards NCIS while Ziva stood hoping that she wasn't been watched. As if Ari could read her mind Ziva's phone rang and when Ziva looked at the number it was her brother. Ziva opened the phone and put it to her ear. "Hello" Ziva said as casually as possible.

"What did Agent Gibbs want?" Ari growled into the phone.

"Nothing," Ziva said quickly "I hadn't been back to NCIS in a while and he was looking for me"

"How did he know where to find you?" Ari replied accusingly

"I don't know," Ziva answered keeping her cool "maybe he was getting coffee and saw me as I was leaving". Ziva was relieved when Ari seemed to accept this.

"Go back to NCIS" Ari exclaimed suddenly making Ziva jump.

"What, why?" Ziva asked with the most genuine surprised voice she could muster.

"Because I need someone in there to warn me when they are getting to close" Ari said in a demeaning tone as if Ziva should have known this.

"What if they catch me?" Ziva asked.

"Make sure they don't" Ari answered and Ziva didn't have a chance to reply before she heard beeping indicating that the call had been disconnected. Ziva placed her phone back in her pocket and started to make her way back to NCIS knowing that Gibbs would be happy to see her.

* * *

Director Sheppard and McGee knew Gibbs was in a bad mood as soon as he came back to NCIS without any coffee and in a grouchy manner giving out orders to anyone nearby. 

"What's up his butt?" the director asked McGee.

"He went to get Ziva but obviously she said no" McGee said.

"Said no to what?" the director asked smiling after discovering that Gibbs must be hiding something from her.

The look that crossed McGee's face after he slipped up was priceless. He had totally forgotten that they were keeping Ziva's plan to themselves.

"Oh uh" McGee stuttered "Gibbs asked Ziva to…get…him…some coffee" he finished quickly "and I am guessing Ziva said no"

McGee sighed hoping that she's bought it but she hadn't.

The director walked over to Gibbs and said "Jethro…what is going on?"

Gibbs glared at McGee, who suddenly became interested in his computer.

"Nothing _Jenny_" Gibbs said emphasizing her name in annoyance.

"Well where is Officer David?" Director Sheppard asked formally.

"Dunno" Gibbs shrugged "could be anywhere" he added smugly and looked at his team….of one.

"Well you better find her because with DiNozzo out of his mind like he is, you're a man down" the director argued.

"Well call DiNozzo back in and I'll find David then" Gibbs argued back.

"I AM NOT GOING TO CALL DINOZZO BACK IN!' the director yelled "NOT WITH THE WAY HE IS NOW"

"YOU DO REALISE THAT KATE IS THE ONLY WAY THAT TONY IS GOING TO BE ABLE TO MOVE ON DON'T YOU" Gibbs yelled back.

Director Sheppard stopped what she was doing. She knew that Gibbs was right but right now there was on way that they were going to get Kate back anytime soon.

Just as Jenny was about to make another valuable point, Ziva walked in.

"Well Officer David, nice of you to join us" the director said sarcastically.

"Did I miss something?" Ziva asked looking at the Director who was fuming and Gibbs who looked shocked to see her.

"WHAT IS GOING ON AGENT GIBBS" Jenny yelled in the most formal way you can while raising your voice.

"As McGee said," Gibbs answered "I sent Ziva out to get coffee and she said no". Jenny shook her head and Ziva could have sworn she heard her swear under her breath before she stormed off knowing that she wasn't going to get the truth out of Gibbs. Ziva looked after her for a while before she was startled by Gibbs saying "Officer David what are you doing back here?" Ziva turned and face Gibbs and replied "Ari sent me back so he could have someone on the inside". Gibbs looked at Ziva relieved that she was back at NCIS. "Well," Gibbs said casually "now that you're back you can tell us exactly what happened". Ziva nodded and took a deep breath before she explained "I met with Ari and he once again threatened to kill Kate if I didn't say yes and after we had met he gave me our next meeting place".

"Was Kate there?" Gibbs asked quickly with hope in his eyes.

"I'm not sure," Ziva answered "I think I saw her in Ari's van but I couldn't be sure from so far away". Ziva was surprised when Gibbs accepted this instead of yelling at her for not checking and not trusting her instincts. Before Ziva could question this though McGee had said something to Gibbs and an encrypted file appeared on the plasma screen. "What's this McGee?" Gibbs asked gruffly.

"Encrypted video file boss" McGee answered stating the obvious.

"I can see that," Gibbs replied staring down McGee "what is the video of?"

"Oh rite," McGee mumbled and pressed a few keys on his computer "Well I'm not sure I still need to crack it but my guess is it's from Ari".

"Nah you think" Gibbs said sarcastically.

"Wait there's more boss" McGee said as Gibbs started to go back to his desk.

"What is it?" Gibbs replied seemingly annoyed that McGee hadn't told him in the first place.

"Well," McGee answered "from what I've deciphered so far the message is addressed to every one with special emphasis on Tony, which means…"

"We need to call DiNozzo back in" Gibbs finished. McGee nodded and Gibbs went over to his phone and dialed his home number knowing that DiNozzo would be there.

* * *

DiNozzo had just walked through the door of Gibbs house when the phone rang. He had been out doing some shopping he thought it was the least he could do considering he had been living in Gibb's house for the past few days and the fridge was starting to look a little bare. "Hello" Tony said into the phone juggling it and the shopping. "Umm sure boss I'll just put a few things away and then I'll be straight there". Tony placed the groceries that could wait on the bench and started on putting the cold items away knowing Gibbs would want him there pretty much straight away.

* * *

As Tony walked into the squad room, a chill ran up his spine. He wasn't sure why but he was pretty sure it had something to do with the fact that they wanted him. As he made his way to his desk, he stopped and noticed that everyone was gathered. 

"What's going on here?" Tony asked anyone willing to answer him.

"McGee's cracked it" Abby said proudly, patting McGee on the shoulder. McGee looked up at her and smiled. Ziva however, looked slightly confused.

"McGee doesn't look angry" she said, assuming that 'cracked it' meant that McGee had lost it.

"No Ziva, he's cracked the code to the video" Abby said.

"What video?" Tony asked speaking up "why am I here?"

'Because who ever sent us this video wants everyone here, especially you" McGee said.

"And how do you know that they especially want _me_ here?" Tony asked.

"Well it might have something to do with the fact that your name was in bold…and italics…and underlined…and in capitals…and in size 15 font" Ziva said listing all the reasons why.

"DiNozzo, David, McGee upstairs now!" came Gibbs's voice from upstairs. The two agents and one officer ran from their position in the squad room and began running upstairs.

"Hey Gibbs!" Abby called from down stairs "what about me and Ducky?"

Gibbs paused for a second and then said "go get Ducky from Autopsy and get up here NOW!"

Abby nodded quickly and ran in the direction of the elevator that would take her to autopsy.

* * *

Gibbs, Tony, McGee, Ziva and Director Sheppard waited in MTAC for the arrival of Abby and Ducky. They were standing in the middle of the room watching the blank screen.

All of a sudden, Abby and Ducky burst through the door. "Have you started yet?" Abby asked quickly with worry in her voice.

'"No Abby" Jenny said "we were waiting for you"

"Ok" Abby said and paused before saying "McGee press play"

"Hey!" Gibbs exclaimed "that's my line". He paused and cleared his throat. "Ok McGee, you can start it now"

McGee looked a little confused at hearing the command for a second time but did as he was told. With a few clicks of on the keyboard, a blurry image appeared on the screen.

"McGee, fix it" demanded Gibbs.

Again McGee worked his magic and the blurry image became more visible. Everyone's eyes were wide open as they watched Ari slowly appear on the screen.

"Why hello NCIS. It's nice to see you all again" he said with a devilish grin on his face.


	17. Chapter 17: NCIS fights back

Even though everybody knew who would be on that video they couldn't help but stand there shocked at seeing Ari's face on the screen. "I hope all is well," Ari continued creepily causing Abby to shudder and McGee placed a hand on her shoulder "how are you Agent DiNozzo?"

At the mention of his name Tony clenched his fist and he could feel everybody's eyes on him, but he pretended not to notice and focused his attention back on the screen.

"I assume you all know Caitlin?" Ari asked and everyone's attention was taken off Tony and back onto the screen as the camera panned to the side and everyone saw Kate behind Ari being held back by a thug.

Ari turned back to the camera. "Yes she has been a very nice guest to have for the past two years Agent Gibbs. A little bit of a smart mouth but it would be expected with a mentor like yourself" Ari grinned to himself and turned back to Kate, who was now struggling with her armed 'friend'.

As Ari continued to talk about Kate, Gibbs was getting distracted by the thug that was holding Kate. He looked extremely familiar and he couldn't help but think he had seen him before, but he couldn't place where.

Gibbs was startled out of his trance by Ari saying "Ah yes you do feel bad don't you Caitlin. After all it was your fault that I was forced to take action".

Gibbs looked at Tony and could see the colour rush out of his face and he hoped that Ari would leave it there and not go in any deeper.

"Mind you," Ari said turning his face away from Kate and back to the camera "It was fun for me hearing her pleading for her life and listening to her scream in pain, but the most satisfying part was hearing her call out for Agent DiNozzo as she took her last breath". Gibb motioned at McGee to cut that tape, he could see Tony getting paler by the second but as McGee started to move over to the kill switch, Tony grabbed his hand firmly. McGee looked up at Tony worryingly but removed his hand all the same. Gibbs looked at Tony and hoped that this tape wouldn't make things worse.

"There is one thing I regret though" Ari said seeming like he could see them in the room. Before Ari continued on with what he was saying he was stopped by Kate screaming at him to stop, Tony froze and thought that Kate must have known how much this would hurt him.

"Please stop," Kate begged trying to wriggle free of the thug "that's enough, please just stop".

Ari ignored Kate's pleas and continued "I regret not taking advantage of Dr Benuit in her…state after all she is…I mean was a very beautiful woman". Tony slammed his clenched fist down on that table causing pens and paper to fly all over the floor.

Gibbs was about to tell McGee to hit the kill switch again when his attention was turned to Kate who had managed to flip the thug holding her onto the floor and was now lunging at Ari with an absolutely livid look in her eye. A huge grin crossed Abby's face when Kate ran up to Ari a punched him square in the eye with enough force to knock him out. This excitement was short lived though because as soon as Ari had risen from the ground he dragged Kate back to the thug and stormed over to the camera looking as equally angry as Kate and switched it off. Silence filled the room as everyone stared at the blank screen. This silence was only broken by Tony kicking open the door and storming back down to the squad room.

Everyone looked at each other, each thinking the same thing. Who was going to follow him before he does something stupid?

Finally Gibbs turned around and stormed out of MTAC in pursuit of Tony, closely followed by his team.

* * *

Tony stormed to his desk and picked up his phone. He had no idea who he was calling but he was so angry he let his fingers do the walking. He put the receiver up to his ear and listened as the phone rang. All of a sudden, someone on the other end of the line picked up.

"Mandy's bridal shop. You buy em', we dress em'. How may I help you today?" came a cheery voice on the other end of the phone. Tony slammed down the phone, almost breaking it.

"DINOZZO!" Gibbs shouted "don't break that or that's coming out of your pay check"

Tony looked up and saw the team surrounding him. 'THAT BASTARD!" Tony yelled. 'HOW CAN HE BE SO INHUMANE?" Tony slumped back into his chair, tears streaming down his cheek. "HE DESERVES MORE THAT THAT PUNCH IN THE EYE THAT KATE GAVE HIM" Tony said through tears. Tony straightened up and tried to suck it in. he didn't want everyone in the entire office to see him cry……again.

Gibbs put a sympathetic hand on Tony's shoulder. "I know he deserves more" he said, also trying to maintain his anger "and he will get more. Trust me" and with that, Gibbs walked over to his desk and started to make a phone call.

"Well you got to hand it to Kate" Abby said, trying to lighten the mood "she really knows how to throw a good punch" this brought a slight smile to everyone's faces but it quickly disappeared when they over heard Gibbs on the phone.

"Uh huh……when? …… that's too long……by Monday……fine……" and he hung up the phone.

"Who was that too?" Ziva asked.

"To an old friend of mine" Gibbs answered.

"This friend wouldn't be one from your marine days, would they?" the director asked, joining them.

"Maybe" Gibbs said mysteriously.

Director Sheppard shook her head. "Agent Gibbs. I know what Ari is doing is wrong and……"

"Inhumane" finished Tony solidly.

"Yes inhumane but you can't just go around, calling in favors from ex-snipers" she finished trying to reason with him but it wasn't going to work.

"THAT SON OF A BITCH HAS KIDNAPPED MY AGENT AND KILLED THE GIRLFRIEND OF A MEMBER OF MY TEAM!" Gibbs yelled "AND NOW HE'S MAKING FUN OF THE SITUATION! YOU CAN NOT TELL ME THAT MAKING FAVORS WITH A SNIPER IS WRONG"

"AGENT GIBBS" the director yelled back. "IF YOU DON'T LOWER YOUR VOICE THIS MINUTE, THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES"

Gibbs stopped yelling and glared at the director. He lowered his voice, but only slightly and replied "Jen, I can't let this bastard get away not this time".

The Director nodded and said "I know Jethro and you will get him, but you need to stay focused," Jenny looked at Tony and continued "ALL of you do". Tony pretended to be listening right up until The Director had walked up the stairs and back into her office. Once The Director was out of earshot Tony got up and started to leave NCIS. "Where the hell do you think you're going DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked noticing Tony's movement.

"To get that son of a bitch" Tony answered heading towards the elevator, before Tony could even place his hand on the button Gibbs had bolted over and rushed in front of Tony preventing him from leaving. "Get out of my way Gibbs" Tony said calmly when Gibbs didn't comply Tony raised his voice and repeated "get out of my way". Gibbs stood his ground no matter what it took he was going to get Tony through this even if it meant he had to take a hit first. Tony got sick of being polite and grabbed hold of Gibb's arm and shouted "GIBBS GET OUT OF MY BLOODY WAY". Gibb gently pulled free of Tony's grasp and remaining as calm as possible replied "How are you going to find him DiNozzo, and even if you do what good is it going to do he'll kill you before you can even get within 100 meters of Kate". Tony tried to think of a reply to this but the best he could come up with was that he had no idea what he was going to do. "I just need to get her back Gibbs, and I need to see Ari pay for what he's done, I need to see him dead Gibbs and I so want to be the one to do it" Tony sighed finally relenting and heading back to his desk. "I know," Gibbs said "and if I have anything to do with it Ari will die and we will get Kate back". Gibbs was relieved to see a slight smile cross Tony's face and was confident that he had succeeded in reassuring him of their success. "MCGEE," Gibbs yelled making McGee jump as he sat back down at his desk "trace that video".'

"What," McGee exclaimed "that's impossible even if I manage to get a clear signal from the video I doubt it would still be transmitting and I cant get a clear…" McGee was cut off by Gibbs glaring at him, "I'll get right on it Boss" McGee finished and got up from where he had just sat and grabbed a confused Abby who had just come down the stairs an headed down to her lab. Gibbs seemed content and turned his attention to Ziva who had also just appeared in the squad room. "Ziva go back to Ari and do everything you can to get us a way in there and a way to Kate" Gibbs ordered and turned away, when he didn't hear movement behind him he turned back to Ziva to see her still sitting at her desk. "Why are you still here Officer David?" Gibbs asked raising his voice and staring at Ziva angrily. "Well," Ziva answered "I can't go back".

"Why not?" Gibbs demanded

"Because I wouldn't know where to go, Ari hasn't told me yet" Ziva replied subconsciously feeling the phone in her pocket. "Once he contacts you, you go back there and do what I said" Gibbs answered and went and sat at his desk and started sipping his now cold coffee. "Great," Tony said excitedly "and I'm coming with you". Ziva and Gibbs looked at Tony shocked they had not expected this and they knew it was going to make him angry that he couldn't go. "You can't" Ziva exclaimed.

"Why?" Tony asked sounding genuinely confused.

"Because," Ziva answered "Ari knows you and he would never believe that you had betrayed NCIS".

"I didn't mean undercover," Tony said sounding as though that should have been obvious "I meant I'll come and once you give me the all clear I'll come in and take down Ari"

"No way" Ziva and Gibbs answered bluntly.

They looked startled that they had said it at the same time but recovered once Tony asked "why not, we can get Kate back it's the perfect plan".

"Because we have to think rationally or Kate could get hurt" Gibbs answered more confidently then he felt.

"But we have to do something" Tony pleaded with Gibbs.

"I know but…" Gibbs began but stopped abruptly and began thinking.

Ziva, Tony and McGee all stopped and looked at Gibbs.

"Boss…" McGee said slowly and cautiously "are you ok?"

"That guy" Gibbs said, everything suddenly coming to him.

"What guy?" Tony asked "boss we have to do something NOW!"

"We can" Gibbs said, smiling "the guy holding Kate in the video"

"You mean his thug?" McGee asked.

"Exactly" Gibbs exclaimed "I know I've seen him before, so if we figure out where I've seen him, then we might get more info on finding Kate and Ari"

"I can already tell you who he is" Ziva said, speaking up.

"WHO?" Gibbs accidentally shouted in the excitement but gathered himself up and said "sorry Ziva, who is he?"

"His name is Daniel Ryan" she informed the team "he was a low level officer who only joined us…I mean them as of about two and a half years ago" Gibbs began wondering.

"What do you mean a _was_ a low level officer? How do you know he's not still one?" McGee asked.

"Well low level officers aren't usually allowed to be in the presence of the……head person" Ziva said trying to explain "so if he is hanging around Ari and has something to do with Kate, then he has been promoted and promoted good" she finished.

"Ok this is what we're going to do" Gibbs said taking charge "McGee, continue trying to trace that video"

"But" McGee argued but Gibbs continued

"I know Ari said that we won't be able to trace it but it's worth a try…for Kat's sake"

McGee nodded and Gibbs turned to Abby. "Abbs go through the tape and see if you can find anything"

"Like?" Abby asked.  
"Anything Abbs" Gibbs said "fiddle with the sounds to see if you can hear anything that could give a way their location or do whatever else you do when you analyse videos" Abby nodded and Gibbs turned to Tony "and DiNozzo…" Gibbs said calmly "I need you to find out who that man is"

Tony was about to protest but Ziva saved him the trouble and butted in herself. "But I told you who he is?" she protested.

"I know" Gibbs agreed turning to Ziva "but my gut says I know him from somewhere else" and he turned back to Tony. "I know that sitting at a computer might seem pointless right now but if you find out who this guy is, he might lead us to Kate and every little bit counts, ok"

Tony sighed and nodded. Gibbs smiled to himself but suddenly his smile disappeared and he became more serious. "What are you all doing just standing there" he said "we have a man to identify, a woman to find and a terrorist to bring down. TO WORK!" he said just like the way he told his troops when he was a marine. Everyone nodded and rushed off to do their specific job, leaving Gibbs standing at the elevator smiling to himself.


	18. Chapter 18: Fornell's secret

Gibbs sat at his desk watching his team, McGee was typing frantically into his computer and Tony was staring at his computer screen obviously waiting for a hit on the thug on AFAS. Gibbs groaned as he took his last mouthful of coffee and got up straight away to get more.

Before Gibbs had taken more that a couple of steps he was stopped by McGee saying "Boss, I've got something". Gibbs forgot about his coffee and walked over to McGee. "What is it?" Gibbs asked as he threw his empty coffee mug in the bin.

"Well," McGee answered "I've found a program which can trace the video"

"Well do it" Gibbs demanded.

"I c….can't," McGee stuttered "the program is going to take at least 1 year to trace it". Gibbs slammed his hand down on McGee's desk, McGee jumped and exclaimed "I'll try and do better". When McGee saw Gibbs face he quickly said "I mean I WILL do better".

Gibbs nodded and turned around to find Abby standing behind him. "What you got Abs?" Gibbs asked.

"Umm well I know where they are" Abby answered although she didn't sound as excited as she should be.

"Where?" Gibbs replied getting impatient.

"In the middle of nowhere" Abby sighed obviously knowing that that didn't help.

"And where would that be?" Gibbs demanded trying not to raise his voice too much.

"I don't know," Abby replied "I've listened to the video hundreds of times and fiddled with the tones now the voices don't even sound human anymore, but no matter how many times I listen to it there's nothing, no birds, no trains, no streams, not even any wind, they are literally in the middle of nowhere and there are lots of nowheres Gibbs". Abby took a breath and looked at Gibbs trying to register his facial expression, but there was nothing. Abby sighed "I'm sorry" before going back down to her lab. "DiNozzo," Gibbs yelled which caused Tony to also jump "What have you got?"

"Well," Tony replied "I've got a hit on our thug from AFAS".

"But?" Gibbs said foreshadowing what Tony was going to say.

"But," Tony repeated "it's classified"

"By who?" Gibbs asked once again getting annoyed.

"I'm still working on that" Tony answered and went back to his computer. Gibbs let out a frustrated sigh and sat back at his desk. Gibbs once again was interrupted by the elevator door opening and Ziva walking through the door and into the squad room. Ziva was startled by Gibbs pleadingly saying "please Ziva tell me you have something".

Ziva could tell that the investigation wasn't going well and looked down at the coffee in her hand before replying "I've got coffee".

Gibbs smiled and patted Ziva on the head before taking the coffee out of her hand and going back to his desk again. Ziva was about to protest but stopped when she saw Tony and McGee shaking their heads.

"Ah Boss," Tony said still staring at his computer screen "I've got it". Gibbs chose not to get up from his desk from his desk this time and replied "Who classified it?"

"FBI," Tony answered "more precisely Fornell".

Gibbs sat up straight in his seat and said "get him in here".

"I already called him," Tony explained "he's coming, but he's not happy about it". Everybody couldn't help but notice the smirk on Gibb's face as Tony said this.

"Tell him to meet me in MTAC when he arrives" Gibbs said and got up from his desk for the billionth time that day and went up the stairs into MTAC. Ziva turned to Tony and whined "he took my coffee". Tony and McGee smiled but each of them felt anxious as to what would happen once Fornell arrived.

* * *

"YOU UNDERMINED ME CAITLIN, YOU MADE A FOOL OF ME" Ari screamed. Kate was standing only a couple of meters away and she could feel Ari's breath come past her, but she kept her composure. 

"SAY SOMETHING" Ari demanded getting frustrated by Kate's silence.

Kate stared right into Ari's emotionless and sinister eyes and said smugly "How's your eye Ari, does it hurt?" Ari let out a furious growl and pulled out his gun.

"YOU ARE REALLY PUSHING YOUR LUCK CAITLIN, TELL ME WHY I SHOULDN'T SHOOT YOU NOW" Ari exclaimed loudly.

"Because you love me" Kate replied sarcastically. Ari's finger made its way to the trigger of the gun and Kate started to get scared, she wondered whether she had pushed Ari too far, would he actually shoot her.

"Haswari," Daniel exclaimed, Kate was shocked by his sudden outburst "you don't want to do that". When Ari didn't lower his weapon Daniel walked over calmly and placed his hand on Ari's arm slowly lowering the gun for him.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you Daniel" Ari threatened "or I'll shoot you" Daniel had to think fast. He was under orders to protect Kate and Ari was ready to shoot her.

"Come on Ari, she's not worth it" Daniel pleaded.

"SHE UNDERMINDED ME IN FRONT OF GIBBS!" Ari yelled "SHE NEEDS TO BE PUNISHED!"

"But if you shoot her then she might die" Daniel said, clutching at straws.

"Well that's a chance I'll have to take then" Ari said and raised his weapon again. Daniel really had to think fast.

"Well" he said "if she dies then how else can you get even with Gibbs?" Daniel paused and hoped that had worked but it didn't.

"There is always the rest of his team" he threatened, continuing to hold the gun up at Kate.

"But they're not Caitlin and you know that she means something to you…I don't know what that is but why else did you fake her death and keep her here for two years?" Daniel said, knowing that this was going to hit something in Ari. Ari paused for a second and lowered his weapon.

"Well how do you suppose I punish her?" Ari asked Daniel.

Daniel also paused for a second. "Well just don't let her in anymore video's that are going to be delivered to NCIS then" he said "as for punishment, I don't know. Lock her in here for a while?" he said with a shrug.

Ari smiled and nodded. "I have a better idea. Daniel lets go" and with that, Ari turned around and walked out of Kate's room. Kate and Daniel gave each other worrying looks and Daniel followed Ari out of the room. Kate walked over to her bed and sat down. She had no idea what Ari was planning but with the grin he had, it wasn't going to be good.

* * *

Tony, Ziva and McGee all sat at their desks waiting for Fornell to show up. Gibbs had been up at MTAC for a while now and was probably getting impatient. "How badly do you think Gibbs is going to kill Fornell?" Ziva asked. 

"Dunno" Tony shrugged "why is he exactly going to kill him?"

"Because he's classified a terrorist that is working with Ari" Ziva shrugged "does he ever need a reason to kill someone?"

"Good point" McGee agreed and as soon as he finished his statement, the elevator doors opened and Fornell stepped out and walked over to them.

"Where's Gibbs?" he asked.

"Up in MTAC" Tony said "but I should warn you, he hasn't had a very good day today, so what you have to say better be good news"

"Well it'd be nice to know why I'm here Agent DiNozzo" Fornell said, placing his hands on his hips.

"Because I want access to a classified document" came Gibbs's voice from upstairs. Everyone looked up and watched Gibbs walk down the stairs and over to them.

"And what document would that be?" Fornell asked, annoyed that he had to come all the way down to NCIS just to hear about this.

"This one" Gibbs said and put the picture of Ari, Kate and Daniel on the screen. "Who is this man?" Gibbs demanded, pointing at Daniel.

"How am I supposed to know" Fornell said defensively.

"Well you classified his profile" Gibbs pointed out "so who is he?"

Fornell was starting to get angry. He didn't like being told what to do.

"Well if all you're going to do is demand information out of me, then I'm leaving" he said and turned around but when he did, he was met face-to-face with Gibbs. He had no idea how Gibbs had moved so fast but he really didn't give a damn. "Move" Fornell demanded.

"Not until you tell me who this guy is" Gibbs demanded back. Both men stood there with their hands on their hips, glaring at each other. Tony, Ziva and McGee just looked at each other and shrugged. They had no idea how long this would go on for.

Then without warning, Fornell sighed and said "look I can't tell you who he is"

"Why?" Gibbs asked pleadingly.

"Because it's classified for a reason" Fornell explained.

"Please Tobias" Gibbs pleaded "I need to get Kate back and this guy is our only lead so far. I know I've seen him before" Fornell looked sideways, a sign that he was hiding something. Gibbs could see that he was getting to him.

"If this had happened to one of your agents, then I'd help you in anyway I could" Gibbs said "why is Kate any different?"

Fornell gave up and sighed. "Fine Jethro" he said "his name is Matthew Fergon and he is an undercover agent working for the FBI".

Gibbs looked at Fornell shell shocked and suddenly remembered when he had seen him before. "I remember where I've seen him before" Gibbs said.

"Where"? Tony asked.

"He and that lady was spying on you when you and Ziva went undercover" Gibbs said, glad he had finally realized where he had seen him before but then something else popped up in his mind.

"Fornell" he said accusingly.

"Yes Jethro" Fornell said, getting suspicious.

"Did you know about Kate?" Gibbs asked curiously.

"What do you mean?" Fornell asked, surprised about the question and hoping to avoid answering it.

After hearing the question, Tony, McGee and Ziva all got up from their chairs and walked over to Fornell to hear the answer.

"When Matthew was reporting back to you, did he tell you about Kate?" Gibbs asked more forcefully this time.

"Umm uh" Fornell started to say but Gibbs interrupted anymore stalling tactics.

"FORNELL ANSWER ME!" Gibbs demanded loudly.

"ok look I knew that Ari had a hostage a couple of days after Kate died but I didn't know it was actually Kate until about 8 months ago" Fornell said defending himself. Fornell took one look at Gibbs and took several steps back because Gibbs's face was getting redder and redder.

"YOU KNEW THAT KATE WAS ALIVE AND DIDN'T TELL ME!" Gibbs bellowed "HOW COULD YOU FORNELL? I TRUSTED YOU"

Fornell didn't know what to say that would make this situation any better. He was about to say something else in his defense when he noticed a fist flying towards his face and colliding with his jaw.

"TONY!" Ziva screamed as another one of Tony's fists collided with Fornell's face.

* * *

**Sorry for not updating sooner but we had many assignments we had to finish in time for major exams, so here is a new chapter. We will put another one on ASAP as soon as we've typed it up. Just a warning...our major exams are in two weeks so we may update before then but if we don't expect more after that time. Happy reading!**


	19. Chapter 19: McGee's bad day

"Tony" Ziva screamed as another one of Tony's fists collided with Fornell's face. McGee and Ziva looked on in horror and shock as Fornell fell to the ground and Tony got ready to strike again.

"McGee," Gibbs said "get DiNozzo off of him". McGee nodded and went over to where Tony had his fist raised above Fornell's face. McGee grasped Tony under his arms and attempted to lift him off Fornell.

"Let….me….go" Tony grunted struggling to get free of McGee's grip.

"Come on Tony" McGee said with strain in his voice as he once again tried to lift Tony off Fornell.

"LET ME GO McGee" Tony yelled and struggled so much that his elbow made contact with McGee's nose.

"OWWWWWWWWW" McGee exclaimed obviously in pain. Tony snapped out of his rage and instantly stopped attacking Fornell o turn and see McGee on the ground holding his bleeding nose.

"Oh my god," Tony said offering his hand to help McGee up "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it". McGee took Tony's hand and once he had gotten to his feet he grabbed a tissue and tried to stop the blood flowing from his nose. Ziva stood surprised at what had just unfolded; she had never seen Tony so violent or so angry.

"McGee, DiNozzo go down to autopsy" Gibbs ordered seeing the blood coming from McGee and the bruising already starting to appear on Tony's knuckles.

"Why do they have to go to autopsy?" Ziva asked "they're not dead".

"Because," Gibbs explained "McGee and DiNozzo look injured and Ducky is the closest thing we have to a doctor". As Gibbs finished his sentence the Director came down the stairs from MTAC. She stared at the scene downstairs and hastened her walk down the steps.

"GO" Gibbs barked and Tony and McGee rushed off into the elevator.

"What is going on here?" the Director demanded looking at Fornell on the floor.

"Fornell tripped and took out McGee on the way down" Gibbs answered and if Ziva hadn't of known better she would have believed him.

"And where was Agent DiNozzo going?" the Director asked getting suspicious; she knew Gibbs well and could tell when he was lying.

"I asked him to take McGee down to Ducky" Gibbs replied and once again he sounded genuine. The Director once again looked as though she didn't believe Gibbs and turned her attention to Ziva.

"Officer David," the Director asked authoritarily "What happened?" Ziva looked from the Director back to Gibbs; she didn't know what to do. Ziva opened her mouth to mouth only to be met with Gibbs glaring at her, Ziva didn't want to disappoint either of them and she didn't want to get Tony into trouble.

"Tony hit Fornell and when McGee tried to stop Tony he accidentally elbowed him in the nose" Ziva said avoiding eye contact with Gibbs. Ziva could feel Gibbs stare searing into her back and added "but he deserved it".

"Who McGee?" the Director exclaimed.

"No Fornell" Ziva answered trying to defend Tony.

The Director looked at Gibbs and ordered "Tell Agent DiNozzo I want to see him in my office A.S.A.P". Gibbs continued to glare angrily at Ziva as the Director went back up the stairs and into her office.

* * *

Tony and McGee walked the corridor to autopsy, McGee was still holding his nose and Tony was continuously clenching and unclenching his fists. Tony was about to apologize again to McGee when they heard a familiar voice yell "McGee" and Abby come to a stop in front of them.

"Oh my gosh McGee, what happened?" Abby exclaimed seeing McGee holding his nose.

"Tony hit me" McGee answered, his voice sounding funny due to the fact that he was holding his nose.

"Tony," Abby said horrified and hit Tony in the shoulder "What did you do that for?"

"Ow," Tony replied holding his arm "I didn't mean to".

"It's ok Abby" McGee said and released his grip on his nose to see if the blood had stopped. Abby saw all the blood and hit Tony in the arm again, this time harder.

"OW," Tony said giving Abby dirty looks "it wasn't my fault he was trying to stop me hitting Fornell"

Abby stopped and asked "Why were you hitting Fornell?"

"Because," McGee explained once again with his hand over his nose "he knew about Kate"

"Yeah so," Abby said "everybody knows about Kate"

"He's known about Kate for months and hasn't done a damn thing about it" Tony answered angrily and clenched his fist.

"Oh," Abby sighed "let me at him". McGee reacted immediately and grabbed Abby to try and stop her from going after Fornell.

"McGee let me go" Abby said frustrated and waved her hand around trying to get free. Abby gasped when she felt her hand hit McGee's nose and heard him cry out in pain.

"I'm so sorry McGee" Abby exclaimed sounding genuinely upset at what had happened.

"It's ok" McGee said sounding as though he was going to cry.

"Come on," Tony said hoping to prevent anymore accidents "let's go see Ducky".

McGee and Tony once again walked down the corridor to autopsy. Tony had to smile at the situation, especially now that Abby was walking next to McGee continuously apologizing for what she had done.

Abby continued this even when they entered autopsy and Ducky had told them to sit on one of the tables so he could examine them.

* * *

"Ok Fornell" Jenny said "tell me exactly what happened down there to make Agent DiNozzo hit you…twice"

She and Fornell were in her office and she was trying to get to the bottom of the story and hopefully stop Fornell from pressing charges.

"As I keep explaining. I knew some information that I probably should have shared with Gibbs a long time ago" Fornell explained.

"But why would Agent DiNozzo punch you in the face like that for?" Jenny asked, still somewhat confused.

"Because I knew about Kate being alive a long time before NCIS did" he said. Director Sheppard stopped and sighed. She now knew exactly why Tony hit him but she couldn't condone violence in the workplace, no matter what the situation.

"Ok, so where do we go from here" she asked Fornell "I can understand if you want to press charges but I'd rather you not"

"I'm not sure yet" Fornell said rubbing his jaw slightly "I can understand why he did it but at the same time, he was with the woman to begin with. I mean they were just friends unless they had some secret relationship going on behind everyone's backs"

"They didn't" Jenny assured him.

"Well I can understand he wants her back but so does everyone else and no body else hit me" Fornell pointed out.

"Well that's probably because Tony beat you to it" Jenny said with a slight laugh trying to lighten the moment but Fornell just glared at her so she became serious again.

"There is a reason why he hit you and I can assure you it's a very good reason" Jenny said, trying to protect DiNozzo.

"That still doesn't give him the right to assault a senior FBI Agent" Fornell argued.

"I know" Jenny agreed and sighed, she knew what she had to do "I'm handing over the Caitlin Todd case over to you"

Fornell stood there surprised. "Really, why?" he asked.

"Well judging by today's events, they are getting to personally involved in the case and that can lead to someone getting hurt…" Jenny said before pausing and continuing with "…someone _else_ getting hurt and maybe even killed if they keep going like this"

Fornell nodded "I accept it" he said "but can you at least wait until I'm out of the building before you tell Gibbs because I don't plan on dying today"

Jenny nodded and Fornell walked out of the director's office and down the stairs, past Gibbs and Ziva sitting at their desks and towards the elevator.

But just as he was about to open the elevator door, it opened automatically and Agent Fergon walked out. Fornell stood there in surprise. What was Agent Fergon doing at NCIS when he was supposed to be with Ari pretending to be Daniel? And Fornell wasn't the only one thinking that. Gibbs stood there eyeing off Fergon, ready to use what ever was necessary to get information on Ari's whereabouts.

"What is he doing here?" came Tony's voice from behind him and Gibbs spun around to see Tony, McGee and Abby standing there, all in surprise at Fergon being at NCIS.

"Stay where you are" Gibbs instructed the three of them and turned to Ziva. "What is he doing here?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Ziva complained "Ari hasn't contacted me yet since our meeting so how would I know why he is here?"

Gibbs nodded his head knowing that Ziva had a point. Gibbs then gave a quick flick of his head indicating to Fornell that he wanted a work with him and his agent. Fornell and Fergon reluctantly walked over to Gibbs and his team but before Gibbs could get a word in, Fornell spoke up.

"We will remain here for another 10 minutes ONLY if Agent DiNozzo keeps his hands to himself" he warned. Gibbs nodded.

"I want to know what you are doing here" he asked Fergon.

"I don't have to answer to you Agent Gibbs" Fergon said sort of smugly but caught the eye of Fornell.

"But you do have to answer to me" Fornell said "what are you doing here?"

"Because I think you should hear about the development in the case" Fergon answered.

"What development in the case?" Fornell asked.

"I don't think we should discuss it in front to _them_" Fergon replied, pointing at Gibbs and his team.

"Anything you have to say you can say in front of us. After all you are in OUR headquarters" Gibbs said firmly, glaring at Fergon.

"Actually he doesn't have to say anything Special Agent Gibbs" Fornell said "it's out case and out jurisdiction so we don't actually have to tell you anything"

"What do you mean it's your case?" Gibbs asked in shock.

"You director handed it over to me, so it now belongs to the FBI" Fornell said proudly.

Gibbs was gob smacked. He looked over at Tony and noticed that he was clenching his fists again, ready to throw another punch at Fornell.

"Why would she do that for?" Gibbs asked, trying to catch Fornell out in a lie.

"Because you people are getting to personally involved in the case" Fornell said rubbing his jaw again, which was now turning a bright purple.

"How can we not get personally involved in the case Fornell" Gibbs said raising his voice "she means everything to us"

"Exactly" Fornell agreed "and that's the sort of attitude that will get one of you killed soon. THAT'S why we have the case"

Gibbs suddenly felt his own fists starting to clench. He was about to take his own swing at Fornell when Agent Fergon spoke up.

"There is one thing you should know though" he said.

"Oh and what is that?" Gibbs asked through clenched teeth.

"If Kate doesn't watch her mouth, very soon Ari is going to lose it and shoot her" Fergon explained.

"What do you mean?" McGee said speaking up "Ari wouldn't shoot Kate"

Fergon was slightly surprised that someone other than Gibbs spoke to him. "Because" he said "she is the most sarcastic smart arse that I have ever met and Ari isn't going to tolerate her talk much longer, especially after the whole video incident"

Remembering Kate punching Ari on the video brought a small smile across everyone's faces but those quickly disappeared when Gibbs said "so why are you here?"

"I already told you" Fergon said, annoyed that Gibbs had obviously not been listening "because I was up dating Fornell and now I have to go" and with that he turned around and headed towards the elevator but suddenly stopped and turned around.

"Oh there is another reason why I'm here" he said, turning in Ziva's direction. "Officer David, Ari wants you"


	20. Chapter 20: The plot thickens

"What" Ziva said in shock "what are you talking about?"

"Ari wants you" Fergon repeated "he sent me to get you"

"Why does he want me now?" she asked "why doesn't he just ring me or something?"

"I don't know" Fergon replied "but if you don't come now, something not very good is going to happen"

"Not very good" McGee said repeating Fergon's grammar mistake.

"Well you'd make grammar mistakes too if you have a terrorist breathing down your neck but seriously Officer David, he's not happy and if you don't follow orders…"

"Something very good is going to happen" Ziva finished sarcastically with a smile.

Fergon just glared at Ziva and said "look, he's still furious about Caitlin and the whole video incident and he won't even set foot into the same room as her at the moment" he explained.

"Why is that?" Gibbs asked.

"Because he's afraid that he's shot her and believe me, she's not making the situation any easier for him" Fergon said "so Officer David lets go"

"Fine" Ziva agreed "but before we go, why does he want me"

"I can't tell you because I don't know. I'm just the messenger" Fergon answered and made his way over to the elevator. "Officer David, coming?"

Ziva turned to Gibbs and gave him a small nod that seemed to mean that everything was going to be alright and followed Fergon into the elevator.

Gibbs watched as the elevator doors closed and an unpleasant feeling swept through his stomach. He really didn't like the idea of Ziva going under cover but he desperately wanted Kate back and he trusted Ziva, so he pushed any doubt out of his mind and sat down at his desk.

"Well what do we do now?" Tony asked.

"We wait for Ziva to return" Gibbs replied.

Tony pulled a face at the thought of sitting and waiting but he followed orders and begun playing solitaire on his computer. McGee looked over at Gibbs and Tony. He also had a strange feeling in his stomach but this feeling he'd had before. He'd had it just before they headed out to the crime scene of the petty officer and found Kate's necklace which had started the whole situation. His gut was telling him that something bad was going to happen but he had no idea what. Just before he was about to ask Gibbs, Abby came running up into the squad room.

"Has she left yet?" she said breathlessly.

Gibbs looked up from his computer. "Who Abby" he asked.

"The director" Abby explained "she offered to take me to lunch and I really, really hope that she hasn't left without me" she finished looking around frantically.

"No she hasn't left yet" came a familiar voice from above, causing everyone to look up and watch the director walk down the stairs.

A huge sigh of relief swept over Abby and she began to walk over to the director.

"Since when do you two go on lunch dates" Tony asked suspiciously.

"Since it's been none of your business Agent DiNozzo" the director answered.

"Oh really, well considering it's never really been my business, then you must do this often" he said with a smile.

The director just gave him a 'yeah right' look and turned to Abby. "Ready to go?" she asked.

"Yep" Abby said happily and linked arms with the director. The director looked a little surprised at the sudden form of affection and looked sideways at a smiling Gibbs, who was finding this all very amusing. The director just smiled at Gibbs as she walked to the elevator, with Abby skipping all the way.

* * *

Ari walked down the corridor that led to Kate's room, he was still fuming from her behaviour during his latest video. Ari placed his hand on the door handle of Kate's room but quickly took it off again; he didn't know what he would do to Kate if he saw her now, not while he was so angry. 

Ari gave one last look at the door before turning around to go back to his quarters and think some more. Ari was slightly startled when he saw Fergon and Ziva standing directly behind him.

"I'm surprised you came Ziva" Ari said trying to remain as composed as possible and not let on to how angry he was.

"Of course I came," Ziva replied cocking her head slightly, she knew Ari wasn't happy "How's our guest doing?"

"Alive….barely" Ari answered through clenched teeth.

"What…What did you do to her?" Ziva exclaimed getting concerned for Kate's welfare.

"Nothing yet, but I'm surprised you care so much" Ari said suspiciously glaring at Ziva. Ziva stared straight back at Ari and tried to quickly think of an excuse for her sudden outburst of emotion.

"Ummm NCIS must be rubbing off on me a bit," Ziva said quickly "it's really getting quite annoying….thanks for getting me out of there before I went nuts"

"No problem" Ari replied once again suspiciously and kept a constant gaze on Ziva trying to read her.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Ziva asked returning Ari's stare once again and trying to keep her cool.

"No reason," Ari said realizing that if he was going to find out anything he wouldn't get it just by staring he'd have to delve deeper "Ziva stand outside this door and make sure our guest doesn't cause any trouble". Ziva nodded and took her post outside Kate's door, she listened intently trying to hear and sign to make sure that Ari hadn't hurt her.

"Daniel come with me" Ari demanded and beckoned for Fergon to follow him. Ziva watched as Ari and Fergon walked away. Once they were out of sight Ziva opened the door to Kate's room and entered dreading what she might find.

* * *

Ziva opened the door to Kate's room slowly and looked around. It was dark and Ziva could hardly see a thing. Ziva was startled by Kate's voice suddenly saying very sarcastically "Well if you turn on the light you might be able to see". 

Ziva blushed embarrassed and was glad for the dim lighting knowing that Kate couldn't see her face. Ziva felt around for the light switch and turned it on quickly when she found it. Ziva turned around and was greeted by Kate sitting cross legged on her bed smiling at her.

"Hmm a newbie, I haven't seen you before" Kate replied sarcastically, even though she knew who Ziva was.

"Geez," Ziva replied "Fergon was right you are a sarcastic smart arse". Kate cocked her head and grinned.

"Fergon huh?" Kate muttered knowingly "you're not doing very well"

"What do you mean?" Ziva asked.

"Well I know that you'd never betray Gibbs" Kate said "so I'm assuming that you're undercover but calling Daniel Fergon around here is going to get you killed"

Ziva stood there worried that her cover had been blown already.

"So you're really lucky that Ari wasn't in the room" Kate continued "have you done much undercover work before?"

"Yes" Ziva said "I've done many and I'm very good at it too. It's just that I've never gone undercover to betray a member of my family before"

Kate understood how Ziva must be feeling. Even though Ari was a terrorist, he was still part of her family and this must be difficult.

"How hard was it to convince Gibbs to let you do this?" Kate asked, breaking the awkward silence that had just occurred.

"It was easier than I thought. I thought that I'd have to fight to get my idea across but once he realized that this was one way of getting you back, he agreed"

"Right" Kate said "and convincing the director…" Ziva suddenly went quiet and didn't answer Kate's question which in a way, answered it. "You never asked the director!" Kate exclaimed in amazement "why not?"

"Do you seriously believe that the director would allow me to go undercover with a terrorist just to get you back? I mean as good as the idea is, it's not exactly safe"

"I see what you mean" Kate agreed "how long do you plan on staying here?"

"I have no idea" Ziva said "I might be going back and forth or I might be staying here the entire time. Ari hasn't told me anything yet"

"So do you have any about idea what Ari is planning?" Kate asked Ziva.

"Not a clue" Ziva answered "I've been left out of the loop and Fergon…I mean Daniel knows more than I do and I'm Ari's sister!"

"yeah well Daniel has been here longer than you have, so that's expected" Kate said sympathetically "I probably know more then you do but give it time and you'll probably know more then everyone put together"

Ziva nodded in agreement and both women just stood there and looked at each other in silence, wondering what Ari's next plan might include.

* * *

Fergon sat down on the chair that sat directly across from Ari. 

"Are we actually going to discuss something or are we just going to sit here all day?" he asked the terrorist.

"We're waiting for Ziva" Ari answered calmly, not even looking up from his book.

"Why are we waiting for her?" Fergon asked, somewhat confused.

"Because" Ari said again not looking up "she's involved in this too"

"What is _this_?" Fergon said getting annoyed that Ari wasn't getting to the point.

"You'll find out as soon as…ah here she comes now" Ari said quickly as he looked up and saw Ziva walking towards them "now we can talk"

"Finally" Fergon sighed heavily but quickly gathered himself up at the sight of Ari's glare.

"So we have gathered here today to plot yet another attempt to ruin the life of Special Agent Gibbs" Ari said happily.

"We gather here today?" Ziva whispered into Fergon's ear "what are we doing? Getting bitched?"

"the term is getting hitched" Fergon corrected her "and besides, Ari is about to ruin Gibbs's life again, so he's happy and I wouldn't go around correcting him or you'll end up with a bullet through your head"

Ziva corrected herself in her chair and looked at Ari.

"Are you familiar with Director Sheppard?" Ari asked Ziva innocently.

Ziva didn't like where this was going but she kept her composure and replied curiously "yes…why?"

"Because I think we should pay her a little visit" Ari said sinisterly.

* * *

Abby and the Director sat silently outside a small café on the outskirts of town. Abby was finishing off her fish and chips while the director was taking the last few bites of her chicken caesar salad. 

"Why did you hand over the case?" Abby asked after she had finished her last chip.

"Excuse me?" the director replied quickly swallowing her mouthful of food.

"WHY did you hand over the case?" Abby repeated more loudly this time.

"Because you were to personally involved," the director explained not making eye contact with Abby "and it was going to get somebody killed".

Before Abby could reply she was interrupted by a creepy but charming voice coming from behind the director.

"How could you not be personally involved," the voice said spine-chillingly "Caitlin is a lovely woman…….sometimes"

Abby and the director both froze with fear, they knew who the voice belonged to but neither of them wanted to look. After what seemed like forever Abby couldn't stand the silence anymore and looked up only to see Ari Haswari standing behind the director.

"Who is it?" the director asked with a slight shake in her voice.

"Well," Abby replied "let's just say it's not Santa"

The director realized who was behind her and reached for her gun, before she could get to her weapon Ari placed his hand on her shoulder making the director jump slightly and said "I wouldn't do that if I were you"

"Why not?" the director replied trying to remain calm.

"Because," Ari exclaimed "I don't think my men would appreciate it if you shot me". The director looked over at Abby just in time to a see a couple of Ari's thugs grab her and pull her up from her chair.

"LET HER GO" the director yelled at Ari while keeping a watchful eye on Abby who was trying everything she could to get free.

"Sorry I can't do that," Ari answered with genuine sounding remorse in his voice "now would you be so kind as to escort me to my vehicle".

"Go to hell" the director said and turned her back on Ari.

"Hmm been with Caitlin is hell" Ari sighed and forcefully turned the director back around to face him.

"Come with me NOW" Ari whispered and brought his face so close to the director's that she could feel his breath on her skin.

"What are you going to do to Abby?" the director asked and resisted the urge to pull her face away from Ari's.

"Nothing….much," Ari replied even more creepy than before "Ziva, Daniel get her in the car NOW".

"The director's mouth fell to the floor as Ziva and Daniel grabbed her and dragged her towards the car, the last thing the director remembered was hearing Abby's screams as they drove off and everything faded into darkness.


	21. Chapter 21: Gibbs's plan

Gibbs sat silently in the squad room watching his team, DiNozzo was playing with a game console at his desk and McGee was doing something on his computer.

"DAMMIT" Tony said a little louder than intended and when he saw the glare from Gibbs he added "sorry boss".

"Gibbs was about to make a smart remark but was interrupted by his phone ringing.

"Hello," Gibbs said a little annoyed as he answered his phone "Special Agent Gibbs"

"Hi Agent Gibbs," the young female voice on the other end of the phone said "This is Doctor Tamsyn Darcy from Bethesda Naval Hospital". Gibb's heart skipped a beat; whenever they were called by the hospital it was never good. A million thoughts raced through his head before he replied "Yes what can I do for you?"

"Well," Dr Darcy answered "We have a Miss Abby Scuito here and she told us to call you as she worked for NCIS".

"WHAT," Gibbs yelled into the phone "What happened is she alright?"

Gibbs' outburst caused both Tony and McGee to look up and curiously look at Gibbs.

"Yes she's fine," Dr Darcy replied "Just a few minor cuts and abrasions and she's a little shaken up"

"What happened?" Gibbs demanded of the young doctor knowing all to well she probably didn't know.

"I'm not entirely sure Agent Gibbs," Dr Darcy replied "Someone brought her here after they found her tied up in an alley"

"How did that happen?" Gibbs asked

"I don't know Agent Gibbs" Dr Darcy sighed.

"Has she said anything, who found her?" Gibbs said quickly asking Dr Darcy a million questions which she couldn't possibly know the answer to.

"I DON'T KNOW" Dr Darcy replied loudly "If you want to know anything you'll either have to talk to the guy who brought her in or wait until Miss Scuito is moved to a ward so you can talk to her".

Gibbs sat shocked for a few minutes after Dr Darcy had hung up processing what he had just heard.

"Boss" Tony muttered and it was then that Gibbs realized that both DiNozzo and McGee were standing at his desk and had probably heard most of his end of the conversation.

"DiNozzo gas the truck" Gibbs said and threw the keys to Tony. Tony caught the keys with a confused look on his face and wondered what was going on.

"Where are we going?" McGee asked looking from Tony's confused face to Gibbs' emotionless look getting worried. Gibbs walked into the elevator and Tony and McGee followed. Once everybody was inside Gibbs sighed and said "Bethesda Naval Hospital"

* * *

As Gibbs burst through the doors to Bethesda Naval Hospital, a million thoughts were running through his head. Was she ok? How badly was she hurt? Who did this to her? Gibbs ran up and down the hallways until he reached the nurses station to the emergency ward. Tony and McGee weren't far behind him but unlike Gibbs, they had no idea why they were there or who was hurt.

"Why do you think we're here Tony?" McGee asked out of concern.

"No idea Probie" Tony said, sounding braver then he felt.

As soon as the three men reached the nurses station, Gibbs slammed his hands down on the desk and demanded "I want to see Abby!"

"I'm sorry who?" asked the nurse.

Gibbs quickly realized why she was confused. "I'm sorry" he said more calmly this time "I'm here to see a Miss Abigail Sciuto"

"ABBY'S HERE!" McGee exclaimed loudly "is she ok? What happened?"

"McGee" Gibbs said "if I knew then I'd tell you but as I don't…"he said his voice trailing off while he turned to the nurse, hoping that she'd get the hint and tell him where Abby was.

"Look I'm sorry" she apologized again "I can't let you in. only emergency staff are authorized to enter emergency"

"But I'm a federal agent!" Gibbs said in sort of a whiney voice.

"I don't care if you're the President of the United States, you can't go in there unless you're dying"

"Dying huh?" Gibbs mumbled to himself. Slowly a small grin crept across his face. "Ok" he finally said "I fully understand. We'll be leaving now" and he motioned for Tony and McGee to follow him but the act would have looked more convincing if their jaws weren't on the floor in confusion.

"DiNozzo! McGee!" he yelled and snapped them out of their trance and they slowly followed, still confused about the whole situation.

As soon as they got out of ear shot of anyone in the hospital, Tony grabbed Gibbs's arm and said "what is going on here? You usually don't give up like that"

"Gee DiNozzo, you don't look so good" Gibbs said sort of randomly.

"Huh?" was all Tony could say before Gibbs continued.

"Seriously, you don't look so good. Maybe you should sit down and call a doctor"

"But I feel fine boss!" Tony started to complain. He had no idea what was going on but one look at Gibbs's face and he started to catch on to the plan.

"Actually" Tony said tilting his head a little "my neck does feel kinda stiff and I think I'm developing some really nasty bruises all over my body"

"Don't forget the open head wound" Gibbs said with a smile, glad to see he caught on but McGee on the other hand was still having trouble gripping the idea.

"What are you talking about Tony?" he asked in surprise "you said you felt fine and you don't have a bruise any where on your body"

"McGee" Gibbs said with a smile "you don't look too good either"

"What are you talking about?" McGee said, now so confused that if you asked him his name he probably couldn't tell you.

"You know what?" Gibbs asked no one in particular "I think our injuries might have something to do with the car accident we were in once we left the hospital"

"I think you're right Gibbs" Tony agreed with a huge grin "maybe we should see a doctor"

"I think you're right DiNozzo" Gibbs agreed and the two of them walked off, leaving McGee standing there, with a blank stare in his eyes. Gibbs stopped for a second and turned around.

"McGee, come with me and I'll explain" he said.

McGee nodded and slowly took several steps forward and followed Gibbs and Tony.

* * *

Kate sat silently in her room bored out of her mind, she'd been with Ari for a little over 2 years now and she couldn't remember a time when she was more bored. Kate thought back but all she could remember was having fun annoying Ari or beating up his thugs, but after the video incident Ari didn't come anymore so she had no way to entertain herself.

Suddenly the door burst open and Ari entered followed closely by a couple of his thugs dragging something behind them.

"Put her over there" Ari said not even acknowledging Kate's presence. The thugs, one of which Kate noticed was Fergon, went over to where Ari was pointing and threw a woman with a bag over her head on the floor.

"Who is that?" Kate demanded getting to her feet. Ari continued to not look at Kate.

"Now leave" Ari said to his thugs who walked away from the woman and left the room.

"WHO IS THAT?" Kate repeated more loudly this time. Ari walked towards the door and just before he left the room he turned around and glared at Kate.

"Goodbye Caitlin" Ari replied coldly and locked the door behind him as he left.

Once Ari had left Kate made her way over to the woman and pulled the black bag off her head.

"Are you ok?" Kate asked watching as the woman who Kate now noticed had red hair looked up at her new room mate.

"I think so," the woman answered and climbed to her feet "where am I?"

"Well," Kate explained "you are now in the hospitality of Ari Haswari, little white rooms with nothing to do are his speciality". Kate paused for a moment before adding "that and the fact that he likes to fake people's death and kidnap them for 2 years".

"Kate?" the woman said with recognition in her voice "Caitlin Todd". Kate looked at the woman funny and thought to herself, how the hell did this woman who she had only met a few seconds ago know her name.

"Umm yeah," Kate answered slowly and suspiciously "How do you know my name?"

"I'm Director Jenny Sheppard from NCIS" the woman said formally.

"You're lying" Kate replied sharply.

"No I'm not" Jenny said insulted.

"NCIS doesn't have a female director" Kate exclaimed in a matter of fact tone.

"You miss a lot when you die" Jenny replied sarcastically.

"I'm not dead" Kate answered bitterly.

"You could have fooled me" Jenny snapped back with a smile on her face.

"Bite me" Kate threatened. Jenny gasped disgusted and replied "Fergon was right you are a……."

"Sarcastic smart arse" Kate finished and at the surprised look on Jenny's face added "yeah I've heard it before"

"Hmm," Jenny sighed and walked over to the door "Ari is definitely not going to get away with this, especially if he did anything to Abby".

"Yeah you get over that after the first six months" Kate replied and then paused realising what else the director had said.

"What happened to Abby?" Kate exclaimed.

"I don't know," Jenny sighed "A couple of Ari's men dragged her away and the last thing I remember is hearing her scream". Kate stood shocked by what she had just heard and both women remained silent as they pondered what could have happened to Abby.

* * *

The nurse on duty at the nurse's station just completed her third Sudoku. The waiting room was empty and although she knew there were plenty of other important things she could be doing, she was spending her time doing puzzles. Suddenly the doors burst open and several medics burst through wheeling in three gurneys. The nurse looked up over her puzzle book and noticed that the three victims were none other than Gibbs, Tony and McGee.

"Emma lets us in! We have three MVA victims and they need emergency treatment STAT!" one of the medics yelled.

The nurse took another look at Gibbs and his team, trying to judge whether or not they were faking it but it looked serious so she pressed the buzzer from under her desk and the doors to the emergency department flung open wide and the medics pushed the gurney through.

As they were speeding down the hallway towards the resuscitation room, Tony couldn't help smile to himself. He couldn't believe that they were getting away with this. He also couldn't believe that Ducky was such a good artist and that the smashed up car that another NCIS team was investigating was still in the evidence garage. Suddenly Tony's gurney stopped.

"Hey John" Tony's medic called out.

"What is it Ian?" John called back.

"I think this guy is alive" Ian said, slightly confused.

"Duh Ian" John said sarcastically "that IS why we are taking him into emergency"

Ian realized what he said and fixed himself up "no I mean this guy is smiling. I didn't think that MVA victims smiled like this"

"Oh let me take a look" John said and stopped Gibbs's gurney.

Gibbs realized that DiNozzo had blown their cover so he sat up on his gurney and yelled "RUN!" and he and McGee bolted off their gurneys and down the hallway.

"What….the?" said one of McGee's medics.

Tony slowly sat up on his gurney and faced his medic. "You know what" he said "I really don't think I need you anymore. In fact, I feel much better so I'll be going now…" but he cut off from Gibbs yelling

"DINOZZO NOW!"

"Coming boss" Tony yelled back and sprung off his gurney and ran down the hallway.

The group of medics just stood there in complete shock. Never in their life as an ambo officer had they seen what had just happened. Gradually, one of the medic's slowly came back to earth.

"Call security" he said "and let them know that we have three unauthorized personal in emergency" and he walked off, leaving his colleagues still standing there in confusion.


	22. Chapter 22: Ari goes too far

** Towards the end of this chapter it does get a little graphic, so if violence disturbs or offends you we suggest that you don't read on. Also the cliff hanger at the end is not all it seems so don't panic and enjoy!**

* * *

Ari sat staring out one of the few windows in the warehouse. It had been a few hours since he had brought the director back and he was sure that by now Kate and her were discussing when next to get together for afternoon tea.

Ari pondered some more when he was interrupted by the arrival of the two thugs he had sent to take care of Abby.

"Finally," Ari sighed getting up from his chair "How long does it take to dump someone in an alley".

"Sorry Haswari," the younger looking thug replied "but we were interrupted and had to lie low for a bit".

Ari walked right up to his men and stared them straight in the eyes; this seemed to be a reoccurring habit with him.

"What do you mean you were interrupted?" Ari said trying to remain calm.

"Umm well we had the girl and we were about to dump her when some guy off the street saw us so we ran and hid in the nearest abandoned place" one of the thugs explained.

"WHO SAW YOU" Ari yelled thinking how his thugs who he had trained could be so stupid.

"I…I don't know" the youngest thug stuttered but we followed him for a bit and saw where he lives".

A sinister smile came across Ari's face as he realized how he could fix this mistake and make his presence known to more than just NCIS. The thugs seemed to notice this smile and stood back a little into the comer of the room cowering.

"Come here" Ari ordered with the smile still on his face. The two thugs came over and if you were looking hard enough you could see they were shaking.

"I have a little job for you" Ari said grinning and handed them the keys to his armory.

* * *

Gibbs, McGee and Tony ran down the hallway looking in every room for Abby. They had to be fast because they knew that security would be after them shortly. Suddenly Gibbs came to a room with the numbers 223 on them and he looked inside. Sitting on the bed was Abby and she looked horrible. She had bruises all over her face, cuts all along her arms and legs, a black eye and a rather nasty cut that started on her forehead and made its way over towards her right eye.

"Oh my God Abby, are you ok?" Gibbs said breathlessly and out of concern.

"GIBBS!" Abby shrieked "I'm so happy to see you" tears swelled up in her eyes and she outstretched her arms motioning for a hug, which Gibbs only to happily agreed to.

"Abby, tell me what happened?" Gibbs said softly but before Abby could even open her mouth, security burst through the door.

"There you three are" he said "I have the authority to remove you from this hospital for wasting valuable resources and time"

"Please" Gibbs begged "let me talk to Abby"

"I'm sorry sir but rules are rules and I don't care what relation you have with her but you have to leave NOW!" the security guard threatened.

Tony looked sideways at McGee and smiled and this time, McGee knew exactly what Tony was going to do.

Suddenly, without any warning, Tony clutched his chest and yelled out in pain.

"OH MY GOD TONY ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?" McGee yelled, playing the part but really badly and unconvincing "HE NEEDS SOME URGANT MEDICAL TREATMENT!"

The security guard looked a little confused by Tony's sudden outburst but did as he was told and yelled for a nurse.

Gibbs smiled at his team. He felt so proud of them for doing this so he could talk to Abby and he knew he was going to make it up to them later.

30 seconds after the security guard called for help, two nurses ran into the room.

"Where does it hurt?" asked one of the nurses.

"Ummm," Tony said trying to think of a body part in his stomach "my colon, it's killing me!" he groaned in pain.

The nurse that was about to examine him sat back for a second.

"The colon, are you sure?" she asked confused.

Tony slowly stopped groaning and suspiciously said, "Yes…..why?"

"Uh well you see the colon is located in your bowels, not your stomach" she said.

Tony realized that he'd blown his cover again and yelled to McGee "make a break for it" and both agents ran out of the room and down the hallway. Gibbs couldn't help smiling as the security guard whined "not again". The guard then turned to Gibbs and said "stay here while I go get your other halves" and he ran out.

Gibbs watched as the security guard disappeared around the corner before turning to Abby.

"I didn't know Tony had it in him" Abby said and Gibbs noticed that she too was smiling.

"I teach them well" Gibbs replied and Abby could hear the pride in his voice.

Gibbs walked over to Abby's bed and sat down on the edge of it causing Abby to move over just a little to make room for Gibbs. As she did this Gibbs noticed the small grimace of pain come across her face and decided he had to know what happened.

"Abs," Gibbs said tentatively "what happened?"

Abby took a deep breath and clasped Gibbs hand before she started to tell Gibbs everything that had happened.

* * *

_Abby screamed even louder as Ari's men dragged her roughly into an alley. Her voice was beginning to get hoarse from screaming but she kept going hoping that someone might hear her._

"_Can't you shut her up?" one of the thugs said and Abby heard the scatter of feet behind her before she felt something being forcefully shoved into her mouth._

"_Ah much better" said the same thug as he watched Abby try and scream only for her to be silenced by the gag._

_Abby could feel tears start to well up in her eyes, she didn't know what these guys were going to do to her and she also didn't know what Ari was going to do to the director._

"_So what know?" the younger thug asked looking at the much larger one who was obviously his superior._

"_We have some fun" answered the thug and walked over to Abby._

"_Such a pretty face you have there," he said smugly "too bad it's wasted on trash"_

_Abby whimpered as loudly as she could with the gag in her mouth as the tugs fist collided with the side of her face. Tears poured down Abby's face as he proceeded to beat her relentlessly focusing on the areas where he knew he could to the most amount of damage with the most amount of pain._

"_Your turn" the thug said turning to the younger one who stood perplexed by what was going on._

_The younger thug nodded and came over to Abby. He raised his hand above her head and struck. Abby cried out again but his hit was mild compared to what the previous thug had inflicted._

"_Woos" the older thug exclaimed and walked over to Abby. He grabbed a chunk of Abby's hair and pulled her head back. Abby closed her eyes and continued to cry as he continuously beat her head into the concrete floor of the alley._

_After what seemed like forever the thug was cruel enough to stop before Abby had completely faded into unconsciousness. Abby could feel the throbbing pain all over her body and could feel the blood that was now trickling down her face. Abby managed to roll herself over so her face wasn't facing the ground and was met with the thugs face staring down at her. He smiled the same way Ari had when he was looking at the director and turned to face the younger one of Ari's men._

"_So what do we do with her?" the younger thug asked "do we shoot her or leave her here?"_

_The older thug smiled and looked back at Abby before replying "now don't be hasty, there's no reason we have to kill her yet"_

"_What do you mean?" the younger thug said curiously._

"_Well," answered the older one "we can have some fun first"._

_Abby had a bad feeling as she watched the thugs talking she could slowly feel her self getting pulled further and further into unconsciousness and she tried to resist wanting to stay awake and attempt to fight the thugs off._

"_That wasn't our orders" the younger thug said and folded his arms._

"_Screw our orders," the older one replied loudly "Ari's not here and we deserve this"._

_The younger thug nodded and Abby watched as they both walked over to her._

_The older one of Ari's men got down to his knees right in front of where Abby's legs were sitting. He dropped his hands and started to unbuckle his pants. He stopped briefly and looked up at Abby to see the streams of tears flowing down her cheeks. He grinned and pulled his face close to hers._

"_I want to hear you scream" he whispered in her ear and removed the gag._

_Abby tried to fight and screamed and sobbed as the thug pulled up her skirt to above her knees and forced her legs apart._


	23. Chapter 23: Ari lays down the law

Gibbs sat back on Abby's bed in complete shock. His fists were clenched so tightly that they were going a ghostly white. He took a deep breath and slowly asked Abby, "Did they…" he said letting his voice trail off because even saying it was to painful. Abby just sat there and said nothing.

"Abby" he repeated "did they?"

Abby shook her head slowly "No Gibbs, they didn't" and as she said that a huge sigh of relief swept over Gibbs.

"Are you sure?" Gibbs asked just to make sure.

"Yes Gibbs" Abby said softly "they didn't rape me but..." she said and paused, tears starting to stream down her cheeks "he almost did" and she broke down in tears. Gibbs went to put a hand on Abby's shoulder to draw her closer so he could give her a comforting hug but the moment he touched her, she flinched.

Gibbs stood up and looked at Abby. The strong woman he once knew had been replaced by a damaged and frightened girl. He could no longer stay in the room. It hurt too much and he had no idea how he could help Abby through this but there was one thing he did know, the Ari was going to pay for what he did. Gibbs was about to turn and leave when Tony and McGee walked into the room or in McGee's case, wheeled into the room.

Gibbs took one look at McGee in the wheel chair and said "dare I ask DiNozzo?"

"We were almost out!" Tony whined "and then McGee here had to go and skip the second step"

"I didn't skip the second step" McGee said defensively "you pushed me"

"I did not" Tony argued.

"Did too" McGee argued back.

"I gave you a gentle shove to help you along" Tony stated.

"No you didn't!" McGee complained "you said I was too slow and pushed me down the stairs!"

Gibbs was ready to head slap the both of them. This was not the time nor the place to be arguing about that but he then remembered that they didn't know yet what almost happened to Abby so he restrained himself.

"So what is going to happen now?" Gibbs asked authoritatively.

"Well Agent McGee here has to go down to radiology for an x-ray on his ankle" said the nurse behind him which caused McGee to groan and for Tony to laugh. Gibbs gave Tony on of those 'if I could reach you I'd slap you' looks which made Tony grateful he was on the other side of the room.

"And you two" the security guard as, speaking up "are leaving this department"

Gibbs turned back to Abby. He didn't want to leave her but he'd got what he'd came for and he knew that it was against the rules for them to be there, so he slowly nodded in agreement and the group went two different directions. McGee and his nurse went left, down the hall to radiology and the security guard went right, escorting Gibbs and Tony out of emergency.

* * *

Gibbs sat with his arms folded in the hospital waiting room, he would try to get into emergency again but security had said if he did they would kick him out all together.

"Hey Boss," Tony said from his corner of the room "What did Abby say?"

Gibbs sat in silence for a little before answering; he didn't want to tell Tony everything so he had to think of something to say.

"Nothing much DiNozzo, just what we thought" Gibbs replied but he wasn't sure that Tony bought it because he was looking at him suspiciously.

Before Tony had the chance to question what Gibbs had said a young good looking doctor entered.

"Special Agent Gibbs?" the doctor said questionably looking in Gibbs' direction.

"Yeah" Gibbs replied and got up from his seat.

"I'm Doctor Ian Garcia;" the doctor replied "I was just sent down by Doctor Darcy to tell you that Miss Scuito has now been moved into a ward if you wish to see her"

Gibbs instantly got up out of his seat and walked quickly down the hall, he was walking so fast that Tony had to jog to keep up.

"Boss," Tony said breathlessly catching up "we don't even know what room she's in"

Gibbs just ignored Tony and continued walking looking in the door to each room on the way. Tony grunted and continued to follow double checking the rooms as he walked behind Gibbs.

Finally they reached the last room down the long hallway and both men were relieved to find Abby sitting on her bed with her arms around her knees.

"Finally' Tony sighed and entered the room short of breath.

"Gibbs" Abby exclaimed and uncurled from her ball.

"Hey Abs" Gibbs replied and walked over and patted Abby on the head.

"I'm so glad you're here" Abby said and once again hugged Gibbs.

"Abby," Gibbs answered patting her back "I need you to tell me what happened".

Gibbs could feel Abby starting to cry again as she looked up. When there was no answer Gibbs looked down and noticed that Abby was looking at Tony who was still trying to catch his breath up against the wall, he realized what the problem was.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs demanded causing Tony to jump "Go to the cafe and pull the security feed I want to see what happened"

Tony looked like he was going to protest but after a look from Gibbs he nodded and ran out of the room mumbling to himself.

Gibbs turned back to Abby. "All better?" he asked. Abby nodded.

"So why didn't he...?" Gibbs began to asked, again letting his voice trail off.

"Because of this guy" Abby said softly.

"What guy?" Gibbs asked curiously, getting out his note pad.

"Gibbs, this isn't an interrogation" Abby complained.

"Abby" Gibbs said "I need to know as much as possible if I'm going to catch this guy" Abby nodded slowly in agreement. "Ok" Gibbs continued "tell me more about this guy"

"well I can't remember much, it all went so fast" she said "ummm he was tallish...and he had brown hair I think and...ummm he wore jeans and this shirt that wouldn't look to bad on McGee and... I think his name might have been Donald... or maybe it was Declan I'm not sure"

"How do you know his name?" Gibbs asked in surprise.

"Well his sister was yelling it," Abby said "or at least I hope it was his sister" she added with a small smile.

"And why do you hope that she was his sister?" Gibbs asked with a suspicious grin.

"Well" Abby began, fiddling with her fingers a little "because I kinda said that he was cute" and she added with a smile "and that we should have lunch sometime"

Gibbs just stood there and smiled. Only Abby could get a date while in the middle of a dangerous situation.

"What are you smiling about?" Tony said walking back into the room, a donut in his hand.

"DiNozzo" Gibbs said annoyed "I thought I told you to pull the tapes at the café"

"You did" Tony said agreeing with Gibbs.

"And why aren't you doing that instead of feeding your face?" Gibbs demanded.

"Because Probie being Probie already called ahead before the...uh...incident with the stairs" Tony explained "and the tape just arrived"

Gibbs turned to Abby "I don't want you to see this so I'm going to go with DiNozzo and we're going to watch it ok?" Gibbs said calmly to Abby.

"But Gibbs," she whined "I wanna help!"

"Abby" Gibbs said firmly "you are not going to watch that again. Now stay there and eat this" and with that, he grabbed Tony's donut and threw it onto Abby's bed and walked out of the room.

"uh Gibbs I was ea...," Tony began but quickly stopped when he saw Gibbs's 'you're going the right way for a head slap' look and followed Gibbs out of the room, keeping his distance.

* * *

Kate and the director had been sitting in the room for hours without hearing a word on anything. There had been a buzz of something going on outside the door but no one had come in to tell them anything.

"How do you just sit here and do nothing?" the director asked, staring out the window.

"Well you get used to it after a while" Kate answered, sitting on her bed "it's as boring as hell but you learn how to pass the time"

"How?" the director asked turning around.

"Plotting Ari's murder although everything I've come up with has like a million flaws and all end with my death" Kate replied.

The director forced a small smile and turned back to the window. It was then she saw the two thugs who had dragged Abby to the alley walking towards the warehouse.

"That's them" the director whispered in Kate's direction.

"That's who' Kate replied not sure why the director was whispering in a sealed sound proof room.

"The guys who took Abby" the director said raising her voice a little when she heard that Kate wasn't whispering.

Kate came over to where the director was standing and looked out the window; she saw the thugs and instantly recognized one of them as Eitan.

"Bastard" Kate mumbled under her breath remembering her earlier encounters with him.

"Sorry?" the director said struggling to hear what Kate had said.

"Nothing" Kate replied and continued to glare at Eitan even after he had entered the warehouse and was out of sight.

* * *

"Finally," Ari sighed as he saw Eitan and one of his newer younger thugs enter the room "I was beginning to think you had gone"

"Never Haswari," Eitan replied "we are loyal to you, we serve you till death"

"Good to hear" Ari said with a sinister smile on his face.

Eitan and the other thug looked around getting little suspicious as to why they were there, they got even more suspicious when they saw Ziva and Fergon, who everyone believed to be Daniel, standing in the corner of the room.

"What's going on?" Eitan asked suspiciously and glanced over at his companion.

"Oh this,' Ari replied motioning to everyone in the room "it's nothing, I just thought it would be nice if we all starred in a video together"

"Why?" the younger thug asked causing even Ari to be a little startled at the usually silent young boys words.

"Well I think it's important for Agent Gibbs to know that I'm still here," Ari answered smugly "now Eitan and Aaron would you be so kind as to escort or…guests here"

Eitan and the younger thug, known as Aaron, shrugged at each other, both of them obviously convinced by Ari's explanation ad walked out of the room. Fergon waited and took this as his queue to say something.

"You're seriously letting her be in another video" he exclaimed with a shocked look on his face.

"Yes Daniel I am" Ari replied still wearing his smile.

"Why?" Fergon asked flabbergasted as to after last time why Ari would even consider it.

"Well," Ari explained "She needs to see what happens if you cross me and disobey a direct order and so does our new guest"

Fergon eyed Ari curiously and felt a rush of sympathy for Eitan and Aaron for he knew that Ari was going to do more than shoot them in the foot this time.


	24. Chapter 24: Ari's latest victim

Tony pulled the TV into one of the vacant hospital waiting rooms. Gibbs would have offered to help but he was having too much fun watching Tony struggle with its weight. Once the TV was in the room, Gibbs and Tony pulled up chairs and sat down.

"What do you think we'll see on this tape?" Tony asked Gibbs.

"Hopefully the bastards that did this to Abby" Gibbs said not taking his eyes off the empty screen.

"Uh Gibbs," Tony said slowly "there is nothing on the screen" Gibbs slowly turned and faced Tony and gave him one of his 'I'm well aware of that fact' looks and turned back to the TV. Getting the hint, Tony pushed the tape into the VCR and pressed play.

The café appeared on screen and it clearly showed Abby and the director having lunch together. Gibbs and Tony watched carefully as Ari, Ziva, Fergon, Eitan and Aaron approached the table and Ari sat down beside the director. They couldn't hear any sound and the camera was to far away to lip read but Gibbs could tell that Abby and the director were a little unsettled by the terrorist's presence but what really got Gibbs's blood boiling was that Abby was dragged away by Eitan and Aaron and the director was escorted to the waiting car by Ziva and Fergon.

"Uh boss" Tony said, breaking the silence.

"What?" Gibbs asked not even looking away from the screen.

"Where IS the director?" Tony asked.

Gibbs sat there for a moment and realized that they hadn't seen the director since she went for lunch and that the video clearly shows Ari taking her.

"That bastard has jenny!" he yelled and leapt out of his chair and ran out of the room. Tony sat there for a split second still trying to process everything and once it had occurred to him that Gibbs had left, he too sprung up from his chair and ran out of the room.

Gibbs power walked down the hallway with Tony running to catch up.

"Where…are…we…going?" Tony called out between breaths.

"To the service desk" Gibbs answered back.

"Why?" Tony yelled back.

"Because we need to make sure jenny isn't here" Gibbs called back without turning around or stopping "who knows, maybe Ari let her go later and we just didn't see it"

Tony just shook his head and secretly knew that there was no way that Ari would have just let her go.

After what seemed like an eternity of Tony trying to catch up to Gibbs, he finally came to a stop in front of the hospital service desk.

"I need to see Jennifer Sheppard" Gibbs demanded causing the hospital receptionist to jump at his sudden approach.

"E...Excuse me" she stammered and looked at Tony for an explanation; Tony shrugged his shoulders and turned back to Gibbs.

"Is there a Jennifer Sheppard at this hospital" Gibbs said slowly moving his face closer to the hospital clerks.

"Umm I'll just check," the hospital clerk replied and typed a few things into her computer "we have a Jennifer Saunders and a Penny Sheppard but no Jenny…I'm sorry"

Gibbs slammed his hand down on the reception desk and Tony flinched thinking that the clerk would call security but thankfully she pretended not to notice and just continued typing on her computer.

"Boss," Tony said "does that mean that Ari now has the director as well as Kate?"

Gibbs sighed and turned to look at Tony.

"Yes DiNozzo," Gibbs replied with a stern look on his face "he does".

Tony was about to reply when he was interrupted by a swarm of doctors running towards the doors to the hospital. This also caught Gibbs attention and as he turned to look at the door he saw a couple of paramedics enter pushing a hospital gurney with what looked like a young male on it.

"Declan Napier, 24 year old male, multiple gun shot wounds to the chest, abdo and lower thigh" one of the paramedics said and it was then that Gibbs noticed that the guy on the stretcher was a perfect fit for Abby's description of the guy who has saved her.

Tony jumped out of the way as the doctors and paramedics flew past and Tony caught a glimpse of the man on the gurney. All Tony could see was blood and the pale skin of the victim.

"Dammit" Gibbs cursed and Tony saw a flicker of recognition cross Gibb's face.

"What is it?" Tony asked thinking how Gibbs could know this guy.

"That's the guy who saved Abby" Gibbs said looking at Tony as if he should know this. When Gibbs realized that Tony wasn't there when Abby told him what happened he added "I'll fill you in later…right now I need a photo of that guy for Abby to ID"

"Umm ok" Tony answered and even though he wanted to ask Gibbs more questions he refrained when he saw the serious look on Gibbs face.

Gibbs watched as Tony wandered off after the doctors and paramedics and hoped like hell that he was wrong about that guy and this wasn't another casualty in his quest to destroy Ari Haswari.

* * *

Ari sat impatiently in his chair as he watched his men set up for his latest video. He usually recorded his video's in a closed room but this time he need a more open space, somewhere where he can really prove to Gibbs who he is and what he is capable of doing. It didn't take long for his men to set up and as soon as they were finished, they stood in a line in front of him, awaiting further instructions.

"Ok," Ari said standing up from his chair "what is taking Eitan and Aaron so long"

Ziva shrugged her shoulders. "I have no idea" she said " but are you sure you want Kate in the video?"

"She needs to learn that you can't disobey me and get away with it" Ari answered.

"She's been getting away with it for two years" Fergon mumbled under his breath.

"Excuse me?" Ari said, eyeing off Fergon.

"Nothing" Fergon replied.

"Now when Eitan and Aaron come back from getting our guests" Ari continued saying "I want them to stand over there" he added pointing to a spot near a window. Ziva and Fergon looked at each other on confusion but nodded in understanding.

"Uh Haswari," said another one of Ari's thugs "why do they have to stand there for? They'll be in the video"

"Exactly" was all Ari said before turning around to face Kate and the director being escorted by Eitan and Aaron.

"Hello Caitlin" Ari said smugly "good of you to join me"

"Well it wasn't like I had a choice" Kate snapped back, glaring at Eitan.

Ari simply smiled and told Eitan and Aaron to stand near the window.

"Ziva, Daniel, take out guests and stand over there" Ari instructed pointing to the right of Eitan and Aaron.

"Ok," Ari said "everything seems in order. I think we can start now" Kate and the director just looked over at each other in concern. They had no idea what was going to happen but they knew that this video was going to be different from the usual ones that Ari sends NCIS.

* * *

Gibbs sat at his desk at NCIS. After Tony had taken the photo of Ari's possible latest victim, they had one back to Abby's room only to be told that she was sleeping and to come back later, so reluctantly they had returned to NCIS. Gibbs looked over at Tony. Tony was also sitting at his desk but rather then sitting there pondering what to do next, he was playing another one of his games that he keeps on his computer. Gibbs usually would have walked up to him, slapped him on the back of the head and threatened him that if he didn't remove the game, he'd be in a lot of trouble but Gibbs knew that this one of the ways that Tony calmed himself down, so he ignored it.

"Uh boss," McGee suddenly said from his desk. McGee was restricted to desk duty now that it was confirmed that his ankle was in fact broken.

"Yes McGee" Gibbs answered "what is it?"

"Uh we have another video message" McGee said looking directly at Gibbs with worry in his eyes.

"Who from?" Gibbs asked automatically even though he knew who would be sending it.

"Uh well it doesn't say," McGee answered "I would guess Ari but this video isn't like all the others"

"What do you mean Probie?" Tony asked, speaking up from his desk.

"Uh this one is live footage" McGee said.

"Live footage?" Gibbs repeated, curious as to why they would be receiving live footage.

"Yeah you know, it's footage that hasn't been previously recorded. It's footage that we can speak to people through and is happening now" McGee started to explain but was interrupted by Gibbs saying,

"I know what live footage is McGee. Send it MTAC and we'll watch it there"

"Sending it now" McGee repeated and with a few clicks of his keyboard, the video was sent to MTAC.

"Now what boss?" Tony asked, a little uncertain as to what was happening.

"We go up stairs" Gibbs said and got up from his chair and made his way up the stairs to MTAC. Tony got up and walked towards the stairs but quickly stopped when he heard McGee call out,

"Hey! What about me?"

Tony just remembered that because McGee's ankle was broken he was in a wheelchair for the next few weeks until his ankle was stronger for him to use crutches.  
"use the elevator McGee" he instructed and made his way up the stairs.

"Oh right" McGee remembered and wheeled himself over to the elevator, nervous about what the video contained and who was on the other side.


	25. Chapter 25: Kate's mistake

Gibbs stood staring at the blank screen in MTAC; he was waiting for McGee to get there so he could accept the video. Gibbs would have done it himself but he didn't know how to work the technology and he didn't trust DiNozzo to do it. Gibbs looked over at Tony and noticed that the usual laid back expression on Tony's face had been replaced by an anxious one and Gibbs remembered what had been on the last video.

"Tony if you'd prefer to leave" Gibbs said gently. Tony turned to face Gibbs and softened his expression a little.

"No Boss," Tony replied "I want to talk to him face to face"

Gibbs nodded and turned back to the screen just in time to hear McGee come through the door.

"Finally" Gibbs said exasperated and proceeded to put the ear piece in ready to talk to Ari"

"Sorry Boss," McGee replied "I had a little trouble with the uh controls". McGee looked down at the controls on his wheelchair and cursed silently. Gibbs gave McGee a couple of seconds before clearing his throat and motioning to the screen.

"Oh right" McGee said and went over to the computer. Gibbs and Tony both watched anxiously as McGee pressed a few keys on the computer and all three men turned to the screen which had now changed form black to an extreme close up of Ari's face.

"Hello Agent Gibbs," Ari said "Oh and the rest of your team"

"What do you want you bastard?" Gibbs replied harshly not impressed by Ari's friendly tone.

"Now Gibbs do we really have to use that language?" Ari answered still maintaining his composure.

"When you're involved yes," Gibbs said and both McGee and Tony noticed a steely look in his eye "what do you want?"

"Well," Ari explained "I thought it would be nice if we could all have a nice conversation together, just you, me and a couple of guests"

As Ari said these last few words the camera panned across the room and Gibbs caught a glimpse of Kate and the director standing near the doorway.

"If you've hurt them I swear…." Gibbs started to say but was interrupted by Ari saying "I know how you feel about the director Agent Gibbs"

Gibbs was shocked how Ari could know; he was also slightly embarrassed as he didn't want his personal feelings being revealed to Tony and McGee.

"Everybody does," Gibbs replied "she's my superior and I have a lot of respect for her"

"I know about Paris" Ari exclaimed smugly.

Gibbs glanced around the room and noticed the confused looks on his team's faces as they processed what Ari was saying.

"Of course you do," Gibbs replied trying to make it sound as though Ari was bluffing "it's a lovely city you should really go there"

Ari gave a fake laugh and smiled and at that moment Gibbs knew that he knew everything.

"This is not what I was here to discuss," Ari said and once again the camera paned this time showing the two thugs who had attacked Abby "you must know Agent Gibbs my orders were to kill the girl nothing more I had nothing to do with her…attack"

Gibbs' hands clenched into a fist and if Ari had of been there Gibbs would have beaten him to a pulp before he killed him.

"YOU DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO STOP THEM EITHER" McGee yelled and threw an empty coffee cup at the screen. Gibbs, Tony and Ari all looked at McGee surprised by his outburst but quickly turned back to the screen.

"No I did not Agent McGee" Ari replied with a sigh "but this video is going to rectify that mistake"

Ari indicated to his side and Gibbs saw the thugs standing near a window which only revealed a pink flowered tree and gave no indication to Kate's where abouts.

"What do you mean?" Gibbs asked wondering what Ari was going to do.

"You'll see" Ari said and walked over to his thugs. Everybody watched intently and Gibbs knew exactly what was going to happen when he saw Ari pull out a small hand gun and hand it to the younger thug.

"Aaron," Ari said "You made a mistake but I'm going to give you the chance to make up for it and me to spare your life"

Gibbs could see the young boy quivering and even after what he had done to Abby he felt sorry for him.

"H….How?" Aaron stuttered and gripped the gun harder.

"You are going to kill Eitan, after all I'm quite certain it would have been his idea" Ari replied and patted Aaron on the head.

Aaron turned and held the gun up at his older mentor. When Eitan started to plead for his life Aaron closed his eyes and pulled the trigger. Gibbs watched as the older thug fell to the ground motionless bleeding from a wound to his head.

"Good boy" Ari said and came over to Aaron. He took the gun out of his hand and without a second thought shot the young boy in the head and put his gun away.

"That's how agent Gibbs" Ari said and went back to his position in the middle of the room.

Everyone in MTAC stood there in complete shock. They had never imagined a person as cold as Ari before and this made them that much more worried about Kate and the director's welfare.

"How can you just do that?" Gibbs asked loudly "how can you just kill someone who trusts you?"

"Easy" Ari simply said "they should learn not to trust me"

"What are you going to do to Kate and our director?" Tony asked in a demanding voice.

"Don't know yet. Your director is a coward. She doesn't have the guts to speak up to me. Caitlin however, I have no use for her anymore so what's the point in keeping her?" Ari said smugly and added even more smugly "but don't know Agent DiNozzo, I know exactly how you feel about Caitlin as well"

"I have no idea what you mean" Tony said, trying to deny any feelings in front of Gibbs and McGee.

"I wouldn't say that Agent DiNozzo. Caitlin can hear you" Ari said arrogantly and turned to face Kate "can't you Caitlin?" Kate looked angrily at him but said nothing.

"Is there anything you'd like to say to NCIS Caitlin?" Ari asked casually, which was creeping out the director.

Kate tilted her head slightly and calmly said "certainly. Can you ask Natan next to me to let go"

"Ah no" Ari said "I think I'll leave him where he is. I'd rather not have another black eye thank you" and he turned back to the camera.

"Suit your self" Kate said and reached down to her feet and the next thing Ari knew, he had woman's shoe smack him in the back of his head. Rage suddenly swept through Ari like a raging river.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry Haswari" Natan stuttered "I didn't think she'd do that" and just as sudden as Kate's shoe hitting Ari's head, Ari spun around and fired his gun straight at Kate and Natan. Kate, who thankfully had quick reflexes, ducked just in time as Ari's bullet struck Natan in the middle of his head. Kate stood up, fear filling her eyes. She couldn't believe that Ari would do that. He could have hit her and he didn't care. The exact same feeling swept through Gibbs, Tony and McGee. They were now getting the feeling that Ari was really meaning business now.

Tony stared into Kate's eyes. He so desperately wanted to hold her and keep her safe but they had no idea where they were.

Ari turned back to the camera. "Tell you what" he said through gritted teeth "I'm not going to tell you to never go searching for Caitlin like I always do. This time, I'm going to tell you that I _recommend_ that you do. And do it fast because she has no more than 24 hours to live" and he turned to Kate and smiled evilly. He could see the colour drain from Kate's face and the fear in her eyes grow.

Gibbs, Tony and McGee watched as Kate started to shake. She was really scared now and Gibbs could tell she regretted throwing that shoe.

Ari turned to look at Kate as he shut the camera off. Kate gulped and quickly ran to grab her shoe. As she put it back on her foot she could feel Ari's stare on the back of her head and she was really wishing she hadn't done what she did.

"You're going to regret that Caitlyn" Ari said.

"Oh what more can you do to me Ari?" Kate replied trying remaining calm.

"Who said anything about you" Ari said smugly and turned to his one remaining thug who just so happened to be Fergon.

"Kill the director" Ari said and put a gun in Fergon's hand.


	26. Chapter 26: Tony's confession

Kate stood in shock, would Ari seriously kill the director of NCIS.

"What you can't do that?" Kate exclaimed and gave Ari a pleading look.

"Actually I can," Ari replied "You obviously haven't learnt your lesson so this is your punishment"

Kate was on the verge of tears she couldn't be responsible for the death of the NCIS director as well as Tony's girlfriend. She racked her brain for someway to convince Ari to change his mind and suddenly she thought of something.

"No really Ari," Kate said desperately "I wouldn't do that if I were you"

Ari looked at Kate angrily and sighed.

"I know I'm going to regret this," Ari answered exasperated "but why?"

Kate took a deep breath and knew that she would be clutching at straws but she had to do something.

"Well think about it," Kate explained "Before you only had NCIS and the FBI after you but now that you've kidnapped the director of a federal agency you're going to have everybody looking you, NCIS, FBI, CSI, CIA, any three letter agency you can think of will be after you"

Ari continued looking at Kate and Kate hoped that what she was saying was getting through to him.

"So?" Ari sighed wiping his hand down his face.

"Imagine what will happen if you kill her," Kate replied and tried to look smug "not only will you have everybody looking for you but you won't be able to walk out the front door, they will have shoot to kill orders"

Kate breathed heavily and hoped that she had sounded believable. Ari looked from Kate to the director and Kate could see the struggle that was going on in his mind.

"Ziva" Ari said and motioned for Ziva to come over. Ziva gulped as subtly as she could and walked over to Ari.

"Yes" Ziva replied.

"I want you to take Caitlin back to her room, I don't want to look at her anymore" Ari answered once again exasperated.

Ziva nodded and walked over to Kate. Kate was opened her mouth to protest but stopped when she saw the seriousness of the look in Ziva's eyes. Kate closed her mouth and silently followed Ziva out of the room.

Ari and Fergon watched as they left and once they were out of sight Ari turned and looked at the director. Fergon noticed this and decided that he should try and convince Ari not to kill the director as well.

"Haswari," Fergon said "Maybe Caitlin is right; this would be attracting a lot of attention"

"I don't need your opinion" Ari snapped at Fergon and walked over to a corner of the room.

Fergon could tell that Ari was deep in thought and didn't dare to interrupt him so he exchanged a glance with the director and caught a glimpse of the fear in her eyes.

* * *

Ziva and Kate walked down the hallway towards Kate's room in silence. Kate could tell Ziva was angry with her and if she was in the same position she would be too, after all Ziva was risking her life for someone who kept putting them and other people in danger.

After what seemed like an eternity of silence Kate and Ziva finally reached Kate's room. Ziva unlocked the door and both women entered.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR," Ziva yelled as she shut the door behind them "YOU JUST AS GOOD AS KILLED YOURSELF".

Kate stood and felt guilty for what she had done and thought about how much she had to explain herself to Ziva.

"I'm sorry," Kate replied "I didn't think"

"No you didn't" Ziva said and turned her back on Kate.

"I was dead anyway" Kate answered angrily trying to defend herself.

"Yeah but the director wasn't, you just ensured that" Ziva snapped back and glared angrily at Kate who had moved so she was in front of Ziva.

"He probably would have killed her too" Kate replied desperately trying to believe what she was saying herself.

"Yeah probably," Ziva said "but not now and who knows Gibbs might have had time to find us by then"

"If Gibbs was going to find us he would have done it by now" Kate exclaimed tears starting to form in her eyes.

Ziva sighed and knew that Kate was right but her stunt during the video could have blown her cover as Ziva would have had to have stopped Ari from killing Jenny and then he would have definitely known something was up.

"He will find us" Ziva said reassuringly trying to calm herself more than Kate.

"I can't believe that Ziva" Kate sighed and tears started to roll down her cheeks. Ziva grabbed Kate and held her by the shoulders firmly.

"He WILL find us" Ziva repeated now believing it more herself.

"I know he will," Kate replied "I'm just worried about whether it will be alive or in a body bag".

* * *

Gibbs, Tony and McGee all stood in shock. Was Ari really going to kill the director?

"DAMMIT!" Gibbs yelled in frustration and threw his headphones on the floor.

"Uh boss you really shouldn't…." McGee started to say but he caught sight of Tony's stare and remained quiet.

"What are we going to do now boss?" Tony asked; worry filling his voice "Kate only has 24 hours to live"

"Yeah well the director doesn't" Gibbs snapped back. Tony could tell where he was coming from. If Kate wasn't so stubborn then the director might not be in this mess.

"Well she's probably dead anyway" Tony said trying to defend Kate's actions.

Gibbs spun around rather quickly and said "and why is that DiNozzo?"

"Because Ari was probably going to kill her anyway. It wouldn't have mattered what Kate did. At least Kate took advantage of the situation" Tony argued.

Gibbs stood there. He knew that Tony was right but this wasn't helping the situation. It was probably too late to save the director and he only had 24 hours to find Kate and he had no clue as to their whereabouts.

"Ok" Gibbs said taking charge "McGee, go downstairs and analyze that video"

"How boss?" McGee asked confused "Abby analyzed every video Ari's sent so far and she's come up with nothing"

"Because" Gibbs said "this video was live. Maybe there is something different about it" and he turned to Tony "I want you to go to the hospital and check on Abby and the gun shot victim"

"But why?" Tony whined "how is that supposed to help us find Kate?" and then he quickly added "or the director?"

"It doesn't but while McGee is analyzing the video, you will check up on the other members of our team" Gibbs instructed.

Tony nodded slowly and he and McGee started to make their way towards the elevator.

"Do you think we'll get Kate and the director back?" McGee asked Tony quietly.

"Of course we will Probie" Tony answered, trying to sound positive.

"How do you know that Tony?" McGee asked again.

"Because its Gibbs and Kate we're talking about. Kate will find some way to stop Ari from killing the director and Gibbs always solves the crime in the nick of time" Tony said with a smile.

"Tony this isn't funny" McGee whined and wheeled himself into the elevator. Tony stopped and sighed. He missed Kate so much and he knew in his gut that there was no way that they'd find them in 24 hours but he had to remain positive for his junior agent.

As the elevator doors opened, Tony and McGee were greeted by Gibbs.

"What took you so long?" Gibbs demanded.

"Uh elevators are slow" Tony said defending himself.

"Well there are stairs" Gibbs said like it was obvious.

"Uh I'm in a wheelchair boss" McGee said speaking up.

"That wouldn't stop DiNozzo pushing you down the stairs a second time" Gibbs said "now hurry up" and with that, he walked rather fast towards his desk, with Tony and McGee close behind.

"Ok McGee" Gibbs said once he reached his desk "I want you in Abby's lab so you can analyze the video"

"What!" McGee whined "you could have told me that when I was still in the elevator!"

"Yeah" Gibbs agreed "but you need the exercise "NOW GET!" McGee nodded quickly and wheeled himself back towards the elevator. Gibbs turned to Tony but Tony already knew what he was going to say.

"To the hospital to see Abby. Got ya boss" and he turned around to leave but stopped suddenly.

"Uh to get to the hospital you have to actually move" Gibbs said sarcastically.

"Yeah I know boss but Abby's HERE" Tony said slightly confused.

Gibbs looked up form his desk and saw Abby walking quickly towards them.

"Abby what are you doing here?" Gibbs asked in his 'I can't believe you are here and not at the hospital' tone.

"I'm no use at the hospital Gibbs" Abby explained "I heard you got another video from Ari"

"Yes but McGee is analyzing it" Gibbs said "so we don't need you here"

"McGee is analyzing it!" Abby said surprised "he can't analyze the broad side of a barn. Let me do it!"

"But Abby" Gibbs started to say but was cut off by Abby continuing,

"Seriously Gibbs. McGee told me that Kate only has like 24 hours to live and if we are going to find her, then you need me here not watching some really lame soapy that is still the same day like 6 months later"

Gibbs sighed he knew Abby was right and he knew that he could really use her help but at the same time he couldn't help but be concerned about her welfare.

"I don't want you working until you've fully recovered" Gibbs exclaimed hoping Abby would understand.

"I am" Abby whined and held her arms out to show that she was no longer sore.

"Oh really," Gibbs replied and walked over to Abby "Does this hurt?"

Abby yelped as Gibbs poked one of her bruises.

"Well when you poke it" Abby said loudly giving Gibbs an angry look.

"You're not working until that has healed" Gibbs said.

"Oh so I can't work with a bruise but McGee can work with a broken ankle" Abby replied sounding more and more frustrated by the second. Gibbs knew that he wasn't going to get through to Abby so he finally relented and said "Fine go and help McGee with the video"

At that moment McGee had come back up to the squad room and was sitting with his mouth wide open when he saw Abby standing there.

"What are you doing here McGee," Gibbs snapped "I thought I told you to analyze the video"

"I...was," McGee stuttered "but I needed Abby's password to get on"

Tony was getting more and more frustrated by this, all he wanted to do was find Kate and all everybody else was worried about was what was in a video that probably couldn't be traced anyway. Tony finally had had enough and decided to speak up.

"How does any of this help us find Kate?" Tony asked a little more sourly than intended.

"If we can trace the video we can find her and the director" Gibbs replied firmly but understood Tony's frustration.

"OH WHATS THE POINT," Tony snapped "WE'LL NEVER TRACE THE VIDEO, WE NEVER DO WE'D BE BETTER OFF SEARCHING EVERY WAREHOUSE IN THE COUNTRY WE WOULD PROBABLY HAVE A BETTER CHANCE OF FINDING HER".

"Calm down DiNozzo" Gibbs said loudly trying to get Tony to settle down a bit

"HOW CAN I CALM DOWN BOSS?" Tony continued to yell "ARI HAS THE DIRECTOR AND THE WOMAN I LOVE"

Tony clapped his hand over his mouth as he realized what he had just revealed; now everybody would know how he felt about Kate.


	27. Chapter 27: Ziva's secret

McGee, Abby and Gibbs looked on in shock as they processed what Tony had just said. Tony stood with his hand clapped over his mouth, he couldn't believe that he had just revealed to almost his entire team how he felt about Kate.

Gibbs shook his head and snapped himself out of the shock before walking over to the stairs in the squad room.

Tony watched after Gibbs and just assumed that he was going to walk off the shock. Tony was surprised when Gibbs turned around and motioned for Tony to follow.

Tony gulped heavily and trudged after Gibbs dreading what Gibbs would say to him.

After Tony and Gibbs were out of sight Abby turned to McGee with a cheeky smile on her face and said "I knew it".

McGee shook his head and hoped that Gibbs wouldn't be too hard on Tony.

* * *

Tony looked behind his shoulder and noticed that he and Gibbs were now out of view from Abby and McGee.

"You love Kate?" Gibbs exclaimed as he came to a stop suddenly causing Tony to almost run into him.

"Umm yeah," Tony replied "As a sister"

Gibbs gave Tony a 'yeah right' look and Tony could tell that Gibbs knew he was lying.

"Ok I love her as a friend" Tony said trying to sound a little more genuine.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs snapped loudly "If you don't stop lying to me right now I will slap you"

Tony sighed and knew that he had no choice but to come clean and tell Gibbs the truth.

"Ok," Tony said "I love Kate"

"How long?" Gibbs asked rubbing his face with his fingers to show his displeasure for the situation.

"Since Air Force One," Tony replied "Although it was more like a crush then"

Gibbs was getting more and more worried by the second after all if they got Kate back he really didn't want to have to worry about his employees fraternizing with one another.

"DiNozzo you were in a serious relationship" Gibbs exclaimed not believing that someone like Tony could be in love with two women at the same time, he had had a hard enough time believing he was in love with one.

"I know Gibbs," Tony replied "but I thought that Kate was dead then I was moving on".

"So what were you going to do about it?" Gibbs asked, resting his head in his hands.

"I was going to go and breakup with Jeanne" Tony said "I didn't think it was right to continue dating her if I was in love with another woman but when I got to her apartment..." and he let his voice trail off but he didn't need to finish what he was going to say because Gibbs understood.

"Tony, you do realize that we might not get her back and if we don't you'll be right back where you were when Jeanne died, living on my couch, drinking beer and eating chips ...although," Gibbs started to say and paused "you're _still_ living on my couch, drinking beer and eating chips. Just not as depressing" he added with a smile, trying to lighten the moment.

"I know boss" Tony agreed "but Kate means so much to me. I'm willing to do what ever it takes to get her back"

"I know DiNozzo" Gibbs said "but as I said, there's no guarantee that we'll get her back. I just don't want you to get your hopes up"

"I'm not" Tony said defensively "I KNOW that we'll get her back…and the director"

"And how do you know we'll get both of them back" Gibbs asked.

"Because" Tony said simply "for two reasons. One, Kate won't let anything happen to the director so we know she'll be alive and secondly, it's you Gibbs. You always catch the bad guy and rescue the victims in time"

Gibbs didn't know what to say. Tony was just standing there with so much hope and trust that Gibbs will get Kate and the director back alive. Gibbs knew he'd get them back too but what he wasn't sure about was whether it was going to be alive...or in a body bag.

Gibbs looked at Tony smiling straight back at him. "You're right DiNozzo" he said "we'll get them back"

Tony nodded and said "what do I do now boss? I mean there is no point in going to the hospital now that Abby is here"

"You can still go to the hospital" Gibbs said bluntly.

Tony was slightly confused. "Why?" he asked.

"Because there is still the gun shot victim that we need to get an update on" Gibbs answered.

"Oh right!" Tony exclaimed "I'm on it" and with that he started making his way to the elevator. "Oh and boss," Tony said stopping and turning around "thanks for not making me go back in there to face Abby and McGee"

"Don't worry" Gibbs said with a smile "you'll have to come back eventually"

Tony sighed and pulled a face but turned back around and got into the elevator.

Gibbs watched as the elevator doors closed and he made his way back to Abby and McGee, who were deep in a passionate discussion.

"I knew it McGee" Abby exclaimed loudly.

"You did not" McGee argued "no one did"

"I really did McGee" Abby argued back "I knew it from the moment Kate and Tony met"

"You weren't there" McGee pointed out "I was and if anything Kate was really annoyed with Tony, not secretly wanting to kiss him or something"

"How do you know that McGee" Abby said smugly "they're really good agents. They could have been hiding it and..." Abby was going to continue but she was interrupted by Gibbs saying,

"Shut the heck up!"

Abby and McGee turned to face Gibbs. "Sorry Gibbs" Abby apologized "but McGee and I were discussing..."

"How's the video analysis is going" Gibbs said finishing her sentence.

"Uh...yes" Abby said slowly "that...is...exactly...what...we're...doing" and she quickly started walking down towards her lab.

"How is the tracing going?" Gibbs asked McGee, pretending to believe Abby's cover up.

"Not very good boss" McGee sighed "I've narrowed it down to a 62 chance that they are in America"

"62 McGee, why 62?" Gibbs asked, slightly annoyed at the fact that things weren't moving faster.

"Because they could be bouncing the signal off several different servers and making it look like they're in America but I have no guarantee. I'd need another week to even know if they are IN America, then another month to narrow it down more" McGee whined to Gibbs.

"Well Kate and the director don't have that long McGee" Gibbs said raising his voice in annoyance.

"I know Boss," McGee replied "But it's the best I can do"

Gibbs clenched his fist and slammed it down on McGee's desk before yelling "TRY HARDER".

McGee nodded and even though he didn't like Gibbs telling him to do things that weren't possible he wanted to find Kate just as bad as Gibbs did. Gibbs was content with McGee's answer for the moment and went and sat at his desk with a brand new cup of coffee which he had one of the other teams Probie's get for him. Gibbs sat at his desk trying to process the days events and most of all Tony's confession.

* * *

Tony walked into Bethesda Naval Hospital fiddling with his hands and with an anxious look on his face. Tony looked up as one of the security guards saw him and they exchanged an awkward glance although Tony started to smile when he remembered the last time he was here.

Tony walked up to the reception desk caught the attention of the receptionist who Tony thought was quite hot. Tony mentally slapped himself for thinking that about other women while he was in love with Kate before saying "Hi I'm Special Agent Tony DiNozzo, NCIS".

"Oh hello," the receptionist replied "What can I do for you Mr. DiNozzo?"

Tony smiled, after all this clerk seemed a lot nicer than the previous one.

"I was wondering if you could give me a status report on a Petty Officer Declan Napier" Tony asked consulting his notebook for the name.

"Is this in regards to a case?" the clerk answered sweetly obviously a little apprehensive to give out information.

"Yeah," Tony replied "It's in regards to an attempted murder case"

"I'd be glad to help Mr. DiNozzo," the clerk replied "but I need to see your ID first"

Tony smiled and was glad that this receptionist was following protocol even if it was a pain for him to fish out his badge and ID. Tony finally found both of them and showed them to the receptionist who smiled and pressed a few keys on her computer.

"Umm let's see," the clerk said cheerily "Ah here it is Petty Officer Declan Napier"

The clerk's cheeriness suddenly fell and Tony saw the grave look on her face before she continued "I'm sorry Mr. DiNozzo but Petty Officer Napier passed away a few hours ago"

"Thank you" Tony replied and smiled at the clerk before leaving the hospital and sitting in his car.

Tony pulled out his phone and started flicking through the numbers trying to find Gibbs. Tony was distracted when he saw Ziva's number on his phone; this was a way he could talk to Kate. Tony pressed the call button and put the phone to his ear after all giving Gibb's bad news could wait.

* * *

Ziva walked the hallways of Ari's prison, she hated been undercover. Ziva had watched helplessly as Ari had kidnapped the director and she couldn't do anything about it without blowing her cover and worse than that the director didn't know anything about it so she genuinely believed that Ziva had betrayed her.

Before Ziva had a chance to think about anything else she was distracted by a tickling sensation in her on her thigh. Ziva stood confused for a moment before she finally realized that her phone was vibrating. Ziva took her phone out of her pocket and saw Tony's number on her caller ID.

"What the hell are you doing?" Ziva mumbled and took a quick look around her before she answered her phone.

"Shalom Tony" Ziva greeted and by the tone in her voice you could tell she was annoyed.

"Hi Ziva," Tony replied awkwardly from the other end of the phone "I hope I haven't called at a bad time".

"No of course not," Ziva said sarcastically "I'm only deep undercover in the hide out of a known terrorist who doesn't know I'm a double agent and if he caught me talking to you I would be killed, so no Tony this isn't a bad time".

"Sorry Ziva," Tony sighed 'I didn't think"

"Well it's done now," Ziva answered a little more calm "What do you want?"

Ziva tapped her fingers against the phone as there was a prolonged silence on the other end.

"Tony" Ziva said loudly not being able to stand the silence anymore.

"Umm well," Tony stammered "I was kinda hoping you could ask Kate something for me"

"You called me and possibly blew my cover just so I could ask Kate something, it better be a bloody important question" Ziva answered getting more annoyed at Tony's weird phone call.

"I'm sorry Ziva," Tony said "but I just really need to know in case we never get her back"

"Know what?" Ziva demanded. She had to get it out of him fast before Ari came looking for her.

"If Kate likes me" Tony said softly.

"of course she likes you Tony" Ziva said "why wouldn't she?"

"no I mean likes me, like me" Tony said, awkwardly.

Ziva's heart felt like it was breaking. She secretly liked Tony but had always been to scared to admit it and now, here she was, finding out that Tony liked someone else…again.

"Oh fine" Ziva exclaimed and walked towards Kate's room, the phone still to her ear but secretly she was hoping that Kate would say no.


	28. Chapter 28: Ziva's pact

Ziva walked into Kate's room holding her phone. At first glance she couldn't see Kate. 'Good' Ziva thought 'she's not here' and she was about to tell Tony that when she saw Kate standing over near the window, looking out.

"you know Ziva" Kate said casually not even turning around to see who had just came in "constantly looking at trees, dirt and the occasional bird does nothing for one's imagination"

"How did you know it was me?" Ziva asked, forgetting that she had Tony on the phone.

"Because you've been the only one who has been coming in here since...the video" Kate said with a sad and heavy sigh and remaining looking out the window.

Ziva felt sorry for her. She only had a matter of hours to live and she was spending them locked in a white room with nothing to do.

"Hello?" came a voice from Ziva's hand. Ziva looked down and remembered she was still talking to Tony.

"Who said that?" Kate asked, turning around.

"Oh uh wait a sec" Ziva said quickly and put the phone to her ear. "Do I really have to ask?" Ziva whined.

"Please Ziva, I really need to know" Tony pleaded to her. Ziva sighed and turned to Kate.

"Do you like Tony?" she asked as if she really didn't want to ask the question.

"Huh?" Kate said sounding dumb.

"Do you like Tony?" Ziva repeated, sounding even more forced this time.

"Is this a professional or a personal question?" Kate asked curiously.

"Uh professional" Ziva said quickly, trying to cover the ulterior motive.

"Why would you professionally need to know if I like Tony?" Kate asked sarcastically, knowing that she was cornering Ziva.

"Uh personal" Ziva said quickly changing her answer but realised what she said after she said it.

"Well why do you want to know if I like Tony?" Kate teased. Ziva knew she was trapped.

"look just answer the question" Ziva said, frustrated that even after all her training to be an agent, she was still tricked by Kate and thrusted the phone in Kate's direction.

"Uh Hello," Kate said confused as she lifted the phone to her ear.

Tony listened on the other end of the phone silently, he couldn't believe that he was actually talking to Kate, especially since she was meant to be dead for two years.

Kate waited impatiently for someone to answer her on the other end of the phone and when no answer came she snapped "If you don't answer me in two seconds then I'm hanging up"

"NO WAIT" Tony yelled a little louder than intended.

"Tony," Kate replied shocked that she was talking to Tony "What's going on?"

Ziva really didn't want to nor need to stay to hear how much Kate liked Tony, after all she liked Tony. Ziva gave Kate a signal and went outside to keep watch.

"So are you going to answer Ziva's question?" Tony asked hopefully from the other end of the phone.

"I have 24 hours to live and this is what you're worried about" Kate replied loudly curious as to why this would matter now.

"Actually," Tony said "It's more like 22 hours"

"Whatever," Kate exclaimed "Please just tell me how this is important"

"Because," Tony explained "We may not get you back in time and if so I'll never see you again and I just need to know that there's a chance for us"

Kate could feel tears starting to well up in her eyes, she did feel the same way about Tony but it was more the fact that she would never see him again that was causing her to cry.

"Tony…I…I wish we had of had more time" Kate stammered in between sobs.

"Yeah me too Kate" Tony replied and Kate could hear the sadness in his voice too. Kate took a breath and decided that it was time to tell Tony exactly how she felt.

"Tony," Kate said "The answer to your question is…."

Before Kate could finish she was interrupted by Ziva yelling from outside "Ari what are you doing here?"

Kate knew that Ziva was warning her and cursed under her breath.

"I'm sorry Tony I have to go" Kate sighed and hung up the phone just in time to hear the door start to open. Kate looked around frantically trying to find a place to hide the phone and eventually settled for sliding it under her bed with her foot.

"Ari seriously there is no reason to go in there" Ziva said as her and Ari both came through the door into Kate's room.

"I heard talking Ziva," Ari replied "and I specifically said no one was allowed in here"

"I didn't go in there" Ziva exclaimed trying to think of something as Ari came to a stop in front of Kate.

"Who were you talking to?" Ari asked bringing his face close to Kate's

"No one" Kate replied risking a quick glance over to her bed to make sure the phone wasn't visible to Ari.

"WHO WERE YOU TALKNIG TO?" Ari yelled making both Kate and Ziva jump.

"The birds and myself" Kate said trying to get rid of the hint of sarcasm in her voice.

Ari growled frustrated and stormed out of Kate's room taking a quick look around first.

Once Ari was out of sight Kate went over to her bed and took out Ziva's phone and started looking through for Tony's number.

"What are you doing?" Ziva exclaimed snatching back her phone.

"I have to talk to him again" Kate replied and tried to get the phone back from Ziva who once again snatched it away.

"Are you insane?" Ziva replied loudly "Did you not just see how close that was, if Ari had of caught you"

"But he didn't" Kate snapped back trying to defend herself.

"I don't care if he caught you or not," Ziva answered "The point is I'm not risking both our lives again just so you can talk to Tony"

Kate continued begging Ziva even after she had left the room mumbling under her breath in Israeli and Kate was sure that it wasn't pleasant language.

* * *

Tony just sat there in his car, looking at his phone. It still hadn't sunk in that he'd just talked to Kate but he was kicking himself that he'd never heard Kate's answer. She didn't have long to live and he might never know. It was then that he'd decided to call Ziva again and began dialing her number and placed the phone to his ear. He heard the phone ring and then it suddenly stopped, as if Ziva had hung up. 'why would she do that?' Tony thought even though it was obvious why. 

Suddenly Tony's phone began to ring. "Ziva's ringing back!' he thought and quickly reached for his phone but upon seeing Gibbs's number appear on caller id, his happiness fell. He'd just realised that he'd forgotten to tell Gibbs about Petty Officer Napier.

"Uh hello boss" Tony said carefully "I was just about to call you"

"how long does it take for someone to go to the hospital and get a little update?" Gibbs voice blurted out of Tony's phone.

"uh there was a line" Tony lied quickly.

"a line at emergency huh" Gibbs said curiously.

"it could happen" Tony said defending himself.

"so..." Gibbs said trying to get to the point.

"Oh right...uh he died boss" Tony said.

"AND IT TOOK YOU THIS LONG TO TELL ME THAT!" Gibbs bellowed into the phone.

"sorry boss but I was doing something else" Tony said shuttering when he realised what he just said.

"AND WHAT WOULD THAT BE?" Gibbs demanded.

"I was uh..." Tony began but realised that that Gibbs would find out eventually so he decided to tell him the truth "I was talking to Kate"

"YOU WERE WHAT!" Gibbs roared and suddenly hung up. Tony knew that he'd hear the rest of it when he got back to NCIS but he decided to look at the bright side of the situation, if Gibbs kills him then he wouldn't be kicking himself not knowing Kate's answer and he slowly begun talking the short trip back to NCIS.

* * *

Ziva paced the common room of the warehouse. She hated the fact that she liked Tony and that Tony didn't feel the same way and what really annoyed her was that Tony was willing to risk _her_ life just to ask Kate if she had the same feelings but the thought of knowing that Kate didn't have a chance to answer made Ziva just that little bit happier, even though it was really mean to think it. 

"You do realize that pacing around on my floor like that will eventually wear a hole in it don't you?" came a creepy voice from behind her. Ziva spun around and saw Ari standing behind her.

"Where were you?" Ziva asked, trying to get her mind off her current problem.

"with the director of NCIS" Ari said casually "you'd think that the director of a federal agency would be just that little bit braver but she's as scared as...well as scared as Caitlin should be...but isn't...you know what I mean" Ari said, now confusing himself.

"give her a break" Ziva said defending the director "she's being held hostage by a terrorist and you've threatened to kill her. She has a right to be scared"

"so why isn't Caitlin?" Ari said, with just a touch of annoyance in his voice.

"Kate's different" Ziva shrugged "she's been here longer and she stubborn but she's accepted the fact she's not getting out here alive. I mean, she is scared. I haven't heard a word out of her since you told NCIS that she's got 24 hours to live"

"she was speaking to herself just before" Ari said, pointing out the obvious.

"yeah besides that" Ziva agreed "all she's been doing is staring out the window. I could even swear I saw a tear on her cheek. You've gotten to her and she knows you're serious now..." and Ziva stopped talking because she saw that, for probably the first time in his life, it looked like Ari was actually feeling guilty about what he had done. But that moment quickly disappeared when Ari's face became more serious.

"it's good that she finally understands" he said "because I've lost patience with her. In...," Ari stopped to check his watch "21 hours, she'll be dead and I won't have to tolerate her anymore" and with that, he turned around and walked away. Ziva turned and looked at the door to Kate's room. As much as she didn't want Kate with Tony, she cared to much about Tony to let him lose another person who he loves so, right then, she made a vow to herself that no matter what, she'd bring Kate home to Tony.


	29. Chapter 29: Abby finds Kate!

Tony waited anxiously as the elevator took him back up to the NCIS squad room; he was dreading what Gibbs would do to him.

After what seemed like an eternity the elevator doors opened and Tony was about to step out when he looked up and saw Gibbs glaring at him.

"Hi Boss" Tony said nervously hoping desperately that he had forgotten their phone call.

Gibbs pushed Tony further back into the elevator and entered himself. Tony watched as Gibbs pressed the button to close the doors.

Gibbs waited until the doors closed and elevator started moving before speaking.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING DINOZZO?" Gibbs yelled so loudly that Tony could feel the rush of air fly past his face.

"I just needed to ask her Boss" Tony replied trying to make Gibbs understand.

"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU NEEDED," Gibbs continued "YOU COULD HAVE BLOWN ZIVA'S COVER AND KILLED BOTH OF THEM"

"I'm so…sorry," Tony stuttered "I didn't think"

"NO YOU DIDN'T," Gibbs continued to yell "YOU RISKED BOTH OF THEIR LIVES AND PUT KATE IN MORE DANGER THAN SHE WAS ALREADY IN JUST TO FIND OUT IF SHE LIKED YOU"

"I needed to know," Tony explained "You said yourself we might never get her back and I just needed to know how she felt in case I never saw her again"

"I don't care what you needed," Gibbs replied dropping the volume of his voice "You risked Ziva's life as well DiNozzo"

"I know and I'm sorry" Tony pleaded trying to make Gibbs not angry at him.

"Not as sorry as you will be" Gibbs replied and pressed the floor button on the elevator to take them back up to the squad room.

Tony and Gibbs rode the elevator awkwardly in silence all the way back up to the squad room. When the door opened Tony was about to step out of the elevator when he was stopped by Gibbs's arm blocking his way.

"Hand them over" Gibbs said and held his hand out.

"Sorry?" Tony replied not quite understanding.

"Give me your phones DiNozzo" Gibbs answered loudly causing Tony to jump. Tony sighed and pulled out his phone from his pocket and put it in Gibbs's hand.

"And your work one" Gibbs said and held out his hand again.

"It's at my desk" Tony sighed.

Gibbs removed his arm from the doorway and motioned for Tony to go into the squad room. Tony obeyed and went straight to his desk trying to ignore McGee who was giving him curious looks from his position in front of his computer.

Gibbs stood in front of Tony's desk and watched as he rifled through his drawers searching for his work phone. As soon as Tony had found it he placed it in Gibbs's hand and slumped down at his desk.

Gibb then walked over to McGee's desk and threw both of Tony's phones down on it.

"Delete Ziva's number off of these" Gibbs ordered and went at sat at his desk but not before giving Tony one last dirty look.

McGee looked from Tony to Gibbs curiously before picking up Tony's phones and starting to delete Ziva's number off them wondering what Tony could have done which would have caused Gibb's to take this action.

* * *

Abby sat staring at her computer screen blankly. She had been watching Ari's latest video for hours now and she was running out of time. Abby had fiddled with the sound, zoomed in on absolutely everything and even done a landmark analysis but she still had nothing.

"Gibbs is not going to be happy" Abby mumbled to herself.

"Why wouldn't Agent Gibbs be happy?" Abby turned to see Ducky's lab assistant Jimmy Palmer standing behind her.

"Because Jimmy," Abby replied "I've had this video for days now and I still don't have anything"

Palmer gave Abby a sympathetic look and glanced over at the computer screen.

"That's an interesting tree," Palmer said casually noticing a tree with pink flowers outside one of the windows "anyway here's your Caf Pow…"

"Palmer you're a genius" Abby exclaimed cutting Palmer off.

"I am" Palmer replied

Abby nodded quickly and grinned from ear to ear. "yeah I think you just found Kate!"

* * *

Gibbs sat at his desk fiddling around with a piece of paper that Tony had given him about an hour ago. Gibbs read it again hoping that it would be different this time, but it still said the same thing, that Abby had nothing on the video.

"Why couldn't she tell me this?" Gibbs asked and glanced over at Tony who had been watching him for the last half an hour.

"She was scared you'd yell at her" Tony replied and quickly looked at his computer trying to make it look like he hadn't been watching Gibbs.

Gibbs was about to say something else when he was interrupted by Abby rushing out of the elevator with a huge smile on her face.

"Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs" Abby yelled excitedly.

"What is it Abby?" Gibbs sighed really not in the mood for her perkiness today.

"I did it…well Palmer did it" Abby exclaimed before rushing over to Ziva's absent desk and inserting a disk into the computer. Gibbs got up and walked over to the plasma, he still wasn't sure what Abby had done but it must have been something good for her to be so excited about it.

"Abby what is it?" Gibbs repeated more loudly this time which caused Abby to stop and realize that she hadn't actually told Gibbs what she had found yet.

"Oh right sorry," Abby replied "I found them"

"Found who?" Gibbs answered hoping he would hear the answer he wanted to hear.

"Kate and the director" Abby said a pressed a few keys on the computers keyboard.

Tony rose up out of his seat and Gibbs stared at the plasma as Ari's last video appeared on the screen. Gibbs turned to Abby and looked at her confused.

"I thought you said you didn't find anything on the video" Gibbs said accusingly.

"I didn't," Abby replied "Palmer did"

Gibbs didn't have a clue what Abby was talking about but let her continue.

"Ok," Abby said and fast forwarded the video before pausing it and zooming in on a pink flowered tree in the background "This is the _Emmenopterys Henryi_ also known as the _Chinese Tree_ it's only found in like 3 places in America"

Abby waited for what she had said to sink in before continuing.

"I did a landmark search and found that the tree has been found here, here and here" Abby said and brought up a map on the plasma where three locations were highlighted.

"That still doesn't help Abby," came McGee's voice from the elevator as he arrived back from his coffee run "That's still at least over 500 square miles to search"

"I know McGee," Abby replied "but out of these places only to of them have abandoned warehouses and that's obviously what Ari's hiding in"

"Can we narrow it down to one?" Tony asked staring intently at the screen.

"Yes," Abby exclaimed "Since I've narrowed down to a smaller field I can use the signal off Ziva's cell phone to pin point an exact location"

"Why didn't you do that before?" Gibbs said loudly.

"Because," Abby replied defensively "Ziva's tracer is different I have to know certain parameters before I can trace her signal"

Gibbs nodded at Abby as she typed a few more keys on her computer. Tony, McGee, Gibbs and Abby all watched as a large yellow dot appeared on the map and slowly got smaller and smaller until it only covered one exact location.

"That's where you'll find Ari" Abby said proudly and pointed to Silver Springs near Maryland"

"That's not far from here" Gibbs replied and turned to his team.

"DiNozzo…….." Gibbs started but was interrupted by Tony saying "Gas the truck"

Gibbs nodded and watched as Tony walked out of the squad room and into the elevator. Gibbs then turned to McGee and once again before he could say anything McGee interrupted.

"Grab the gear" McGee said and started to head towards the elevator as well.

"No," Gibbs said "You're staying here"

"But Boss…." McGee whined not wanting to be left out of finding Kate.

"No buts," Gibbs ordered "You can monitor us from here"

After a steely look from Gibbs McGee obeyed and sulked silently as Gibbs handed him an earpiece and ordered him up to MTAC.

As Gibbs watched McGee go towards MTAC with Abby helping him there he grabbed a couple of tracing devices, two earpieces and two small cameras. Gibbs looked at his equipment and hoped it would be enough o keep him and Tony out of trouble and hopefully allow them to rescue Kate.

* * *

Tony sat in the truck for Gibbs; he had already positioned himself in the passenger seat as he knew that Gibbs would want to drive. Tony looked at his watched and jumped when he heard tapping on the window, Tony looked up and saw Gibbs standing there motioning for him to open his window.

"Yeah boss" Tony said after his window was open

"You're driving" Gibbs replied bluntly and opened Tony's door. Tony slid across into the driver's seat and turned the keys in the ignition. He was curious as to why Gibbs was letting him drive but getting Kate back was more important so he decided not to question Gibbs about it.

Tony put his foot on the accelerator at drove the truck out of the garage; he took a quick glance over at Gibbs and noticed that he was making a phone call.

Gibbs dialled a couple of numbers into his phone a put it to his ear.

"Hello Agent Tobias Fornell" Fornell's voice said from the other end of the phone.

"Fornell its Gibbs," Gibbs said "We found them"

"What, where?" Fornell asked surprised that Gibbs was sharing this information.

"Look," Gibbs explained "I know you don't want us going because it'll blow your agents cover but this is so much bigger than just Kate now and we are going whether you like it or not"

Tony turned a corner and continued to listen in on Gibbs conversation.

"I know Jethro," Fornell sighed "and you have the FBI as back up"

Tony continued to listen as Gibbs told Fornell where Ari was and where they could meet. Gibbs ended his call and put his phone back in his pocket.

"Where do you want me to pull over Boss?" Tony asked and subconsciously looked for a spot where he could stop.

"No where," Gibbs replied "We aren't stopping until we get to where Ari has Kate"

"But didn't you just tell the FBI that we'd meet them" Tony exclaimed shocked that Gibbs expecting them to take on a terrorist and his men by them selves.

"Yeah," Gibbs answered "We'll meet them there". Seeing the horrified look on Tony's face Gibbs added "Don't worry it's only a little recon"

Tony looked away from Gibbs and knew that this was going to be more than recon but if it meant getting Kate back then he was up for anything. Tony turned another corner and his eyes opened wide as he saw Ari's warehouse come into view.

"Pull in here" Gibbs ordered and motioned to a small opening where their truck would be disguised by bushes. Tony turned the car into the opening and came to a stop.

Gibbs grabbed his bag off the floor of the car and opened it.

"Here," Gibbs said and handed Tony some equipment "This is your earpiece, tracer and camera"

Tony took the items from Gibbs and attached them in the suitable positions on his body. When he came to the camera he wasn't sure where to put it so he picked up his NCIS hat at placed it there.

"Ready?' Gibbs asked although it was more a statement.

Tony nodded and both men got out of the car with their hands resting on the holsters which contained their guns.

Tony followed Gibbs's lead as they made their way across the bushes making sure to remain hidden from view even from the highest room in the warehouse.

Eventually Tony and Gibbs came to a stop behind the bushes directly in front of the entrance to the warehouse. Both men took a quick glance over the top of the bushes and saw at least three thugs guarding the entrance.

"What now?" Tony asked knowing that they were greatly outnumbered.

"We wait" Gibbs replied


	30. Chapter 30: Busted!

Tony sat quietly, his back facing Ari's warehouse while Gibbs was setting up equipment. Tony turned around and looked at the warehouse. The three guards were patrolling the front of the building and Tony thought he could make out a few more around the back.

"Ari's got more men then we thought Gibbs," Tony said with worry in his voice "how are we supposed to get Kate and the director back now?"

"Don't worry DiNozzo," Gibbs said as he was assembling a long listening device together "we'll figure out something"

"Is this before or after we die?" Tony said sarcastically but with a serious tone.

"Oh shut up" Gibbs mumbled and put the listening device in place.

"Whoa boss, what's that?" Tony asked curiously.

"This is a laser microphone" Gibbs explained. Tony sat there surprised.

"How do you know that?" he asked.

"Uh coz it says so on the box" Gibbs said bluntly making Tony sound like an idiot.

"Oh right" Tony said, feeling dumb "but how do you know how to put the thing together considering its technical and all"

Gibbs just turned and looked at him, giving him a rather nasty stare.

"Sorry boss" was all Tony said in his defense.

Gibbs set the mic up facing the warehouse and turned to his laptop that was on the ground next to it.

"Work your magic Abbs" he said to the screen.

"Got ya Gibbs" came Abby's voice and Tony could hear Abby clicking away at her computer and suddenly, Tony and Gibbs could hear Ari's men talking.

"This is so boring" said one of the thugs.

"I know Jesse" said another thug "but Haswari told us to watch out for NCIS and that's what we're going to do"

"I know" Jesse whined "but I highly doubt that NCIS will get here in...Uh how long do they have again?"

"6 hours" answered the third thug.

"Did he ask you Steven?" asked the second thug.

"No Zane" Steven said passively. Tony could tell who must be in charge there. He looked at Gibbs and grinned. They could hear everything and no one knew they were there!

Suddenly a too familiar voice was heard from the laser mic.

"Report" Ari demanded to Zane.

"Nothing Haswari" Zane said "NCIS isn't here and I doubt they will"

"You never know" Ari said suspiciously, looking around "Agent Gibbs is very stubborn and with Caitlin's life on the line, as well as the director of NCIS, he'll find a way to be here in time"

"Are you sure?" Jesse asked.

"I'm as sure as you not wishing to have a bullet lodged in your skull" Ari threatened, which made Jesse suddenly get rather passive.

Tony looked at Gibbs. Ari was right there and all they were doing was sitting there.  
"Lets get him Gibbs" Tony whispered "what are we waiting for?"

"Have you noticed numbers DiNozzo?" Gibbs whispered back "there is a slight problem with the fact that we are out numbered two to one"

"I know Gibbs but can't we do something?" Tony whined.

"No DiNozzo" Gibbs snapped "we stay here and wait for Fornell to get here. I am not risking your life as well as Kate's and Jenny's"

Tony smiled to himself. He knew Gibbs really cared for his team and this was proving it.

Tony looked back at Ari and his men but suddenly felt a really unpleasant feeling in his stomach. Ari was looking straight in their direction and he had a rather happy grin on his face and something was telling Tony that he hadn't just won the lottery.

"What are you looking at Haswari?" Zane asked.

Ari cocked his head slightly and grinned even more. "Since when do bushes wear white sneakers?" he asked smugly.

"Huh?" Zane asked, confused as to why Ari was asking that.

Ari just smiled and shook his head. "My dear Zane" he said "I have a present for you"

Zane suddenly became very nervous. 'Uh what is that Haswari?" he asked slowly and uncomfortably.

"This" Ari said and very swiftly pulled his gun out and shot him in the leg, causing Zane to cry out in pain.

Back behind the bushes Tony gasped and Gibbs looked down only to find that both he and Tony were wearing white sneakers and he was pretty sure that Ari had seen them.

"Boss what wrong?" Tony asked noticing that Gibbs had gone completely white and was frozen on the spot.

"I think we just got made DiNozzo" Gibbs replied still glued to the spot.

"Very good Agent Gibbs" came a creepy voice from behind Tony.

Tony turned around and saw Ari standing behind him with a couple of thugs. Gibbs looked shocked. He had been so busy processing that they had been seen that he hadn't even noticed that Ari had come over and discovered their position.

Gibbs instantly moved his hand to his holster and watched as Tony followed.

"I wouldn't do that" Ari said smugly and Gibbs froze once again as Ari's thugs grabbed a struggling Tony and held a gun to his head.

"Now," Ari continued "You will follow me or I will kill Agent DiNozzo"

Gibbs took his hand away from his gun and placed it at his side.

"Very good" Ari said in a demeaning tone and nodded at his thugs.

Tony felt a sharp pain on the back of his head before he hit the ground and everything went black.

"YOU BAST…." Gibbs yelled at Ari but was interrupted by him also feeling a pain on the back of his head before he fell unconscious.

* * *

"I lost them" Abby exclaimed and tapped on her microphone hoping to pick up Tony and Gibbs again.

"What do you mean you lost them?" McGee asked wheeling himself over to where Abby was sitting and looked at her now black screen.

"I mean they were there and then nothing I lost them" Abby replied quickly and typed a few things in her computer.

"Did you see anything?" McGee answered starting to get worried.

"Umm…well," Abby mumbled "Ari found them"

"WHAT," McGee yelled "HOW?"

"I'm not sure," Abby explained "But I saw him on Gibb's camera just before the line went dead"

"DAMMIT" McGee yelled again which was scaring Abby because she had never heard McGee yelled before.

"There's something else," Abby sighed "Before I lost the feed I saw a couple of Ari's thugs knock out Tony"

McGee's mouth dropped, he couldn't help but feel he should have been there, maybe if he had of been they wouldn't have been caught.

"I need some air" McGee said angrily and wheeled himself out of Abby's lab thinking all the way about how much trouble Gibbs and Tony were in and whether or not he would ever see him alive again.

* * *

The room and people slowly came into focus as Gibbs started to come to. Gibbs instinctively tried to bring his hand to his aching head but couldn't. It was this that made Gibbs noticed that he was tied to a chair with his hands tied behind his back.

Gibbs groaned and moved his head around trying to get rid of the stiffness in his neck. When Gibbs turned his head to the left he saw Tony next to him also tied to a chair and still out cold.

"DiNozzo" Gibbs said quietly trying to wake Tony up without alerting the thugs on the other side of the room.

"DiNozzo" Gibbs repeated a little louder this time, but Tony still didn't move. Gibbs was about to risk yelling at Tony when he heard a groan coming from Tony's direction and Tony's head start to move.

"Ow," Tony whined and also tried to bring his hand to his head "what happened?"

"What do you think happened?" Gibbs snapped back but regretted it when his sudden movement caused the throbbing in his head to get worse.

"Argh my head" Tony said and started to move his head around just like Gibbs had done.

"Ah you're awake" Ari said and Gibbs and Tony both looked up to see Ari standing in front of them with a devilish grin on his face.

Ari motioned for a couple of his thugs to come over and Gibbs and Tony watched as two of the thugs they had seen outside before walked over.

"You remember Jesse and Steven don't you Agent Gibbs?" Ari said smugly as the two men walked towards him. Gibbs just stood his ground and said nothing. Ari smiled and started circling Gibbs and Tony unnervingly, making them feel really uncomfortable.

"I know what will make you talk" Ari said, pretending he had suddenly gotten this brilliant idea when really he had been planning it all along.

Gibbs looked at Ari and remained silent. Tony did the same. Ari just smiled and shook his head slightly.

"Jesse, go get her" he said simply and walked over to his chair and sat down, crossing one leg over the other.

Tony and Gibbs both gulped. They had the same bad feeling that Ari was going to do something to Kate and they gripped their chairs. Ari simply sat there, smiling because he was really enjoying it. All Tony could do was sit there and hope for the best. All of a sudden, Jesse returned with a woman, not Kate but the director and threw her on the floor. Gibbs sat there in complete shock. What had Ari done to Jenny?


	31. Chapter 31: Tony's big mouth

Gibbs and Tony watched anxiously as the director started to get to her feet. Tony let out a small gasp when he saw her face. Gibbs too saw the numerous amounts of cuts and bruises on her face and how she moved like she was in pain.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?" Gibbs yelled at Ari who was smiling at the reaction he was getting.

"Oh I didn't do anything" Ari replied smugly "Them on the other hand"

Gibbs glared around the room at the numerous thugs that Ari was pointing to.

"Why?" Gibbs asked needing to know why Ari would stoop this low.

"Because I felt like it" Ari sighed and continued to just sit in his position.

Gibbs started to struggle once again in his bindings; if he could get free he would kill Ari with his own hands.

"Boss" Tony said a motioned to where the director was sitting with his head. Gibbs looked over and noticed that Jenny had seen them and was now trying to make her way over to her colleagues.

"Jethro?" Jenny said painfully as she came to a stop in front of Gibbs.

"Yeah Jenny I'm here" Gibbs replied and if he hadn't of been tied up he would have given her a hug.

"Aw how sweet," Ari said sarcastically "I bet you feel left out of this reunion Agent DiNozzo"

Tony was suddenly aware of where he was again as Ari got up out of his chair and walked over to where Tony was tied up.

"Actually I do a little, maybe you could help with that" Tony replied trying to sound calm and keep his usual demeanour.

"I think I can Agent DiNozzo," Ari answered also sounding completely calm "Jesse bring Caitlin in here please"

The thug who had brought in the director nodded and once again left.

"Oh speaking of Kate," Tony said smugly causing Gibbs to wonder where Tony was going with this "How's the eye?"

Gibbs pulled on his ropes as he saw Ari's fist collide forcefully into the side of Tony's face.

"I bet the shoe hurt to" Tony continued trying not to sound as though Ari's punch had hurt.

Gibbs once again watched as Ari again hit Tony and Gibbs could have sworn it was harder this time. Tony looked straight into Ari's eyes and Gibbs could see the blood starting to trickle out of his split lip and a bruise was already starting to form on his cheek.

"How does it feel," Tony whispered so only Ari could hear "To be beaten by a girl"

Tony couldn't fight the pain anymore and let out a small whimper as Ari punched his again much harder than his previous two had been.

"Shut up DiNozzo" Gibbs snapped at his senior field agent.

"But Boss," Tony whined sarcastically "He loves it"

Gibbs could hear the quivering in Tony's voice and he was sure that Ari had at least fractured his cheek bone. Ari raised his fist again about to deliver another blow to Tony but paused and looked around at the thugs he had in the room.

"Oh how selfish of me," Ari said and lowered his fist "taking you all to myself, not when I'm sure my men here would love to have their share"

"What did I do to them?" Tony asked and spat out some of the blood that had formed in his mouth.

"Well you see when I was shooting at you at the service station you caused me to miss by moving Caitlin's brother out of the way," Ari explained "My thugs had to deal with my anger, so I'm sure they'd like to thank you"

Tony gulped he could see where this was going and he regretted saying what he had said to Ari. Gibbs looked over at Tony and could see the fear in his eyes.

"Free shots at DiNozzo" Ari called out and went and took his place back in his chair as several of his thugs closed in on Tony with their fists raised.

* * *

Abby typed frantically on her keyboard, trying everything she could to get Gibbs back on her screen but nothing was working. McGee sat in his wheel chair and typed frantically at a second computer.

"Anything McGee?" Abby asked, worry filling her voice.

"No nothing. It's like they've disappeared" McGee answered back, with an equal amount of worry in his voice.

Abby sighed heavily and continued to click. "This can't be happening McGee" Abby cried out, tears starting to build up in her eyes "first Kate, then the director now Tony and Gibbs, I can't handle this"

McGee stopped typing and put a comforting arm around Abby's shoulder. "We'll find them" he said comfortingly "we'll find them"

Abby quickly pulled away from McGee "how do you know that McGee?" she said very quickly, crying at the same time "Ari had Kate for 2 years and we never even knew! And he's managed to stay 2 steps a head of us the entire time and…and he even tried to kill Kate's brother and Tony and he hurt me and he killed Tony's girlfriend and………" it was then that McGee forcefully pulled her into a hug and this time Abby didn't resist. She buried herself into McGee's chest and bawled her eyes out. McGee knew exactly how she was feeling. For the first time in his life, he too wanted to cry but he had to remain strong and trust in their ability to find their missing friends.

* * *

Tony felt fist after fist collide with his battered body. Pain shot though his face and his chest and it was that bad that he seriously thought that this was the end until he heard what was probably the answer to his prayers.  
"TONY!" Kate shrieked and ran towards him, yelling at Ari's thugs "LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

Ari's thugs suddenly stopped beating Tony and stepped aside as Kate raced up to Tony and knelt beside him.

"Tony are you ok?" she asked, praying for a response.

"Kate?" Tony said quietly, holding back his pain "is that you?"

"Yeah it's me" Kate said and reached up and gently touched Tony's battered cheek "everything's going to be ok"

"HA" came Ari's reply and Kate, still kneeling at Tony's side, turned around and glared at her captor.

"You seriously think that everything is going to be alright now that you're here do you Caitlin?" he said, mocking her.

Kate glared at him but still remained by Tony's side. Now that they were together again, she wasn't going to leave him, no matter what Ari did. Ari simply smiled and motioned for Jesse to grab the director and tie her to a vacant chair. Jesse nodded and forcefully grabbed the director and practically threw her onto the chair. Kate, Tony and Gibbs all turned to watch the director groan in pain as she was tied to the chair. Gibbs bit his tongue. He saw what would happen to him if he said anything by watching what happened to Tony. All he could do was watch the usually strong woman sit there with fear in her eyes. Ari then turned to Kate and smiled.

"Your turn" he said and motioned for Jesse to do the same to Kate. As Jesse approached her, she gripped tightly to Tony's hand behind his chair and smiled when he gripped hers back. Suddenly she had an idea, although she didn't know if it'd work. Quickly she began to loosen Tony's ropes that tied his hands together.

Once Jesse approached her, he reached out and grabbed her by the shoulder. Remembering her secret service training, she used a quick and very effective jab of her elbow into Jesse's groin, causing his to quickly let go and back off.

"She elbowed me Haswari" Jesse whinged in a rather higher pitched voice then usual. Gibbs sat there, glad that Jesse got what he deserved. Ari bit his lip and gave Steven a 'you better do the job or else' glare. Steven nodded and quickly walked over to Kate. To avoid her elbow, he moved at a weird angle that could only make one wonder what he was going to do.

He grabbed Kate by her arms and pulled her away from Tony. Again, secret service training not failing her, she successfully flipped him, landing him on his knee. Ari was getting furious now.

"Oh let me do it" he demanded and aggressively walked towards Kate while Steven limped off. Kate squatted back down to Tony's level and looked him in the eye. Even though she knew that Ari was coming, she only really expected him to grab her and she was prepared. She wasn't however prepared for what really happened. Instead of Ari grabbing her like the first two thugs, he simply and forcefully, bashed her over the head with his gun, knocking her to the floor unconscious.

* * *

Abby and McGee were sitting in Abby's lab in silence. No matter what they tried, nothing was working. It was only when McGee had pointed out that the camera's and the mic's were probably stepped on my Ari and broken that they had stopped trying to do the impossible.

Suddenly the phone started to ring. "Hello NCIS" Abby said miserably while placing the call on speaker phone "home to the people who can't do anything right"

"Huh what are you talking about?" came Fornell's voice

"Oh sorry Mr. Fornell sir" Abby said, trying to sound just that little bit happier "what can I do you for?"

"You can tell me why Gibbs isn't answering his phone" Fornell demanded.

At the mention of Gibbs's name, Abby broke into tears again. McGee quickly gained control.

"Sorry Fornell" he said "Gibbs and Tony are in a little bit of trouble at the moment"

"What kind of trouble?" Fornell asked suspiciously.

"Uh Ari kinda…has them" he said quietly.

"What happened?" Fornell asked out of concern.

"Uh Tony and Gibbs were going to this warehouse to get Kate and the director back and…" McGee started but was interrupted by Fornell.

"Yes, yes I know that part" he said "what happened after?"

"Uh they…uh were at Ari's warehouse and… and he caught them" McGee stuttered.

"That idiot!" Fornell yelled "he said we'd meet up"

"What do you mean?" Abby asked Fornell.

"Gibbs called me and said we'd meet up then _together_ we'd go to Ari's warehouse. I should have known that he'd never listen to his own plans"

Abby looked at McGee, tears swelling up in her eyes again and McGee nodded, knowing what he had to do.

"GO NOW!" McGee shouted into the speaker phone "GIBBS AND TONY NEED YOU!" Fornell agreed and he hung up.

McGee looked from the speaker phone back at Abby and pulled her into another hug as they both hoped that Fornell would reach Tony and Gibbs in time.


	32. Chapter 32: I've got you

Tony watched in shock as Kate hit the ground while Ari stood smirking above her. The adrenaline coursing through Tony's body made it possible for him to lunge forward no matter how painful it was. Tony stopped and realized that Kate had loosened the ropes around his hands just enough for him to get free. Tony smiled to himself as he formulated a plan; this smile quickly vanished when he noticed that Ari was looking at his suspiciously.

"What is so funny Agent DiNozzo?" Ari said annoyed that Tony was finding all of this amusing.

"I'll tell you if you come over here" Tony replied smugly but secretly hoping he hadn't just condemned them all to death.

"In case you haven't noticed AGENT DiNozzo," Ari said getting even more annoyed "but you don't give the orders here"

Gibbs eyed the two men curiously and wondered what Tony was playing at, there was no way he could with stand another beating.

"Oh come on," Tony exclaimed "I'm tied to a chair what's the worst I can do"

Ari cocked his head slightly before cocking his head slightly and putting the gun which he had used on Kate back in his holster.

Tony pulled loosening himself from his ropes and braced himself as Ari got closer and closer.

"This close enough for you?" Ari asked holding his arms out.

"No," Tony replied "just a little closer"

Ari gave out an exasperated sigh and continued heading towards Tony until he had come to a complete stop right in front of him.

"That'll do" Tony said and breathed a sigh of relief when Ari stopped.

"No what was so funny?" Ari asked again and Gibbs could tell he was quickly losing patience.

Tony gave a small smirk and before anyone could blink he had pulled his hands out of his bindings and tackled Ari to the floor.

Gibbs stared dumbfounded as the two men wrestled on the ground; he was surprised that someone who had taken such a beating was able to do what Tony was doing.

After a few seconds Ari's thugs realized Ari was in trouble and came rushing to his aid.

Gibbs watched helplessly as Tony struggled with over a dozen men trying to keep Ari on the ground and defend himself at the same time. In a way it came as a relief to Gibbs when one of Ari's thugs walked up behind Tony and hit him hard across the head with Ari's gun which had been thrown across the room in the struggle.

Tony immediately fell off Ari and clutched the back of his head as he saw white dots come across his vision.

"TAKE THEM" Ari yelled at his thugs and motioned at Tony and Kate.

Gibbs and the director watched as two of Ari thugs came over and each grabbed one of his team. The one called Jesse went over and picked up Kate in his arms while Steven grabbed Tony.

"Get them out of my sight" Ari snapped.

Jesse carried Kate away and Steven dragged a still dazed Tony out of the room and down the hall.

"You really should teach your agents better manners Agent Gibbs" Ari said through gritted teeth as he took his gun off the only remaining thug in the room.

"He learnt from the best" Gibbs turned to his right and was surprised but relieved to hear Jenny speaking up.

"Hey Jen," Gibbs said "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine Jethro" Jenny replied and gave a small smile in Gibbs's direction.

"You won't be for long" Ari smirked and once again started walking unnervingly in circles around Gibbs and the director.

* * *

As Jesse and Steven brought Tony and Kate into the room, Tony couldn't stop looking at Kate and hoping that she'd be ok. Once they got to the room, the two men practically threw Kate and Tony inside and closed the door. Tony rolled over on the floor and looked at Kate. She looked as if she was sleeping. Tony put what ever pain he was feeling aside, which was a lot, and slowly dragged himself over to Kate. Once he got there he placed a hand on her shoulder and started to shake her gently.

"Kate, wake up" he said softly but disappointingly, she didn't move.

"Please Kate" he pleaded, still gently shaking her "please wake up" and as if my magic, she started to stir.

"Kate" he said, getting excited "Kate are you ok?"

"I just got hit on the head DiNozzo what do you think?" she mumbled sarcastically and opened her eyes, looking directly into his.

Tony smiled and sighed. At that moment, he was lying next to the woman he loved and believed dead for 2 years and it felt like heaven.

"How do you feel?" he asked.

Kate rubbed her head "sore," she said "I've got this major headache," but she stopped and remembered what had happened to Tony "but how are you after Ari's beatings?"

Suddenly all of the pain that Tony wasn't feeling because of the adrenaline came flooding back.

"Thanks for reminding me" he gasped.

Kate squirmed "sorry" she said and they both sat up, leaning against the wall.

"Hey Kate" Tony said, out of the blue.

"Yeah" Kate said, turning to Tony.

"I kinda asked you a question a few hours ago and you never got a chance to answer it" Tony said with a smile.

Kate smiled to herself too and looked into Tony's eyes.

"So what do you say?" Tony asked.

"Yes" Kate said with the biggest grin on her face.

"Yes what?" Tony said, slightly confused but it was probably due to being whacked on the head.

"Yes Tony" Kate exclaimed in between small giggles "I like you"

"Yeah I know that," Tony replied with a sigh "my question was if you liked me more than a friend"

"YES" Kate yelled and forcefully pulled Tony into a passionate kiss which caused pain to surge through his body. Even though Tony was in agony he didn't care, he finally had the woman he loved and the touch of her lips on his was enough for him to be able to ignore his pain for a while.

After what seemed like an eternity but still not long enough Kate broke away and Tony sat stunned before both of them smiled happily. Once again Tony ignored the pain in his body and this time he was the one pulling Kate into a kiss.

Kate melted into Tony's arms and allowed everything bad that was happening drift away as her whole world became her and Tony.

Tony also forgot everything else that was happening as he and Kate continued to embrace.

"Do you think we'll get out of this?" Kate asked looking longingly and hopefully into Tony's eyes.

"I hope so" Tony sighed and allowed Kate to meld her body into his as she lay with her head leaning on his shoulder.

"Well at least something good has come out of this' Kate said and Tony noticed she sounded a little happier.

"What's that?' Tony asked a little confused.

Kate once again broke into a smile as she realized that Tony could be so naive sometimes. Kate stared up into Tony's eyes knew at that moment that even if they didn't get out of here she would be with Tony for the rest of her life.

"I've got you" Kate said quietly and leant up and gently kissed Tony on the lips.

* * *

Fornell pulled over the FBI an as he saw Gibbs's car come into view. As the car came to a stop he pulled his weapon out and silently motioned for the rest of his team in the back of the van to follow.

Not a sound could be heard as the FBI silently a quickly moved across the dirt and gravel and towards the building which was where Ari was holding the NCIS team.

"Ok" Fornell said "we wait here until I say we're ready"

"But shouldn't we go in now?" asked one of his agents "I mean something really bad could be happening"

"We will go in once I say it's safe enough" Fornell snapped "I am not going to put my agents in danger just like Gibbs did. We wait" and with that he turned and looked at the building.

* * *

Ari sat on his chair staring at his two hostages and smiled. Things were finally working out in his favor. It was then, as he was looking at Gibbs, that he remembered Ziva who was not with them.

"Jesse" he said turning to his thug who had just returned "go get Ziva and Daniel for me. They need to meet my new guests"

Jesse just looked at him but did as he was told and walked away. Gibbs looked at Jenny out of concern because she didn't know what Ziva was up to and had assumed that she was evil. He then looked back at the hallway where he saw Ziva and Fergon walking towards them. As soon as Ziva saw Gibbs tied to a chair, her jaw dropped to the ground in surprise. Ari had never said anything about this!

"Ah Ziva, Daniel. I want you to meet Special Agent Gibbs" Ari said smugly, remaining in his chair. Ziva glanced over at Gibbs and gave him a worried look to which he only to kindly returned.

"But before we start…uh what's the word I'm looking for…" Ari said arrogantly "oh yes, start ending people's lives, I think we should do some introductions on my part. Special agent Gibbs, I'd like you to meet Agent Matthew Fergon" Ari said and pointed at Fergon. Fergon nodded in agreement before realizing that Ari had called him Agent Fergon and not Daniel and he started to get worried.

"Uh don't you mean Daniel, Haswari?" Fergon asked nervously.

"Uh no I believe I got it right, didn't I Agent Fergon?" Ari replied smugly. Fergon looked at Ziva and they both knew that his cover was blown.

"How long have you known?" Gibbs asked, trying to bring the focus off Fergon.

"Since he first came to me calling himself Daniel and saying he was Israeli" Ari answered and added with the biggest grin "just like I know that Ziva never really left NCIS and is still loyal to you"

Suddenly Ziva and Gibbs both went a ghostly white. How did he know?

"so Ziva, Fergon would you be so kind as to make your way over to those vacant chairs and allow my men to tie you there. It'd be so much easier than having to force you" Ari said and motioned for two of his men to grab Ziva and Fergon by the arms and led them to the chairs.

"Oh wait a second" Ari said, getting up from his chair "there is something I need to do" and with that he pulled out his weapon and shot Fergon in the head, instantly killing him. Everyone, even Ari's men gasped.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" Gibbs yelled.

"To teach you that I know everything and you can't get away with anything around here" he said with a smile.

* * *

Fornell heard the gun shot come from inside and he knew that it was now or never that they had to make a move.

"Ok we go in on my command," Fornell said and took his position at the front of his team "On three"

All of Fornell's team watched intently as Fornell started counting with his fingers. Once he lifted up the third finger the entire team including Fornell ran towards the warehouse with their weapons ready.

As they neared the door Fornell couldn't help but wonder what they were running into and whether or not Gibbs was still alive.

"Be careful" Fornell whispered to his team as they ran by and one by one went through the entrance to the warehouse.

"FBI, NOBODY MOVE" Fornell yelled as he too entered the warehouse.

The FBI ducked for cover as their yells were met with the sound of guns being fired and several bullets reigning down on them.

Ari turned around at the sound of gun fire coming from the room across from them. Ari looked around in a panic and Gibbs could see that Ari was trapped. He hadn't expected this to happen. Ari looked at his men. He could tell that they had no idea what to do either and were waiting for orders.

"Ok" he said "I want everyone to stand their ground. I'm getting Caitlin"

"But Haswari" Jesse yelled as Ari sped off down the hallway "I thought you didn't want her anymore"

Ari stopped for a moment before turning around and saying "If I can't have her, then no one can" and with that he ran down the hallway towards the room and an unsuspecting Kate and Tony.


	33. Chapter 33: Ari's final act

Tony and Kate both sat upright when they heard several gun shots been fired. Tony regretted this action straight away as the injuries inflicted by Ari and his men started to throb. Tony grunted and leant back against the wall which was a less painful position for him.

"What's going on?' Kate said and Tony felt more pain as Kate's hand gripped his battered arm.

"I'd say either the FBI has worked out we're here, or Ari has started shooting everybody" Tony replied through clenched teeth trying not to let Kate know how much pain he was in and that she was causing some of it.

Kate was about to ask which one Tony thought when the door to the room they were locked in burst open. Kate's feeling of relief quickly disappeared when she saw a red faced Ari standing in the doorway with his gun pointed directly at Tony and Kate.

"Caitlin come with me now" Ari said forcefully and released the safety trigger on his gun, just in case.

Kate gripped Tony's arm harder and returned Ari's steely stare.

"No" Kate replied forcefully but for someone who knew her so well like Tony, they could hear the fear in her voice.

"Caitlin, NOW," Ari yelled back and Tony could see his hand starting to edge towards the trigger "Before they find us"

"This is your problem Ari" Kate said and Tony could hear her getting calmer, plus his arm wasn't hurting so much so it was a good sign that she had loosened her grip. "You'll have to deal with it" Kate continued and older her arms completely letting go of Tony's arm.

Ari let out a loud exasperated groan and put his finger on the trigger of his gun. Kate let out a small gasp when he moved his aim to the side a little so it was now directly pointing at Tony's chest.

"You will come now," Ari said and Tony could hear the anger in his voice "Or I will kill him"

Kate looked at Tony and back at Ari, she couldn't let Tony get shot but at the same time didn't want to go with Ari either. Tony shook his head when Kate looked at him again; he was not losing her again.

"Kate no," Tony mumbled and gripped her hand "I won't let you go with him"

"I'm sorry Tony" Kate sighed and Tony felt a squeeze on his hand before Kate stood up and walked over to Ari.

Ari smiled evilly at Tony, knowing h had once again succeeded in getting Kate.

"Goodbye Agent DiNozzo" Ari said and grabbed Kate before heading towards the door of the room.

Once again ignoring the pain in his body Tony leapt to his feet and started to go after Ari.

"LET HER GO" Tony yelled and stood as straight as he could with the amount of pain he was in.

Ari turned around with his arm still firmly around Kate. Tony's stomach lurched as he saw that Ari's other hand had now moved and it was now holding a gun to Kate's head.

"Move one more step and I'll shoot" Ari snapped and pressed the gun a little harder into Kate's temple.

"No you won't" Tony replied hoping that he was right.

"What makes you think that?" Ari asked still holding the gun at Kate.

"Because," Tony explained "You haven't killed her after all this time, even after everything she has done and you expect me to believe you are going to kill her now"

There was an awkward silence as Ari realized that Gibbs's stupid protégé was right, but he couldn't let him know that.

"You are wrong" Ari said calmly and Tony ducked as Ari aimed his gun and took a shot at Gibb's senior field agent.

Once Tony was confident he hadn't been hit he looked up only to see the back of Ari as he ran out of the room locking the door behind him.

"DAMMIT" Tony cursed and bolted to the door and started bashing on it hoping someone on his side would come past and open it so he could save Kate.

Fornell edged his way over to Gibbs and the NCIS director as more and more shots whizzed past him. Several of Ari's men had been out of sight and once the FBI had turned up all hell had broken loose.

"Hold on Jethro" Fornell said as he made his way behind Gibbs's chair and started untying his hands.

"Hurry up" Gibbs snapped.

Fornell rolled his eyes; Gibbs had always been an ungrateful son of a bitch. As soon as Gibbs was free he ignored the fire fight going on around him and started to run towards the hallway which Tony and Kate had been taken down.

"Where are you going?" Fornell yelled after Gibbs who was now picking up a fallen thugs weapon from the floor.

"To get my Agents" Gibbs replied and Fornell was forced to watch as Gibbs disappeared down the hall while he concentrated on untying the director.

* * *

Tony continued to bash on the door, harder and harder until his fists started to hurt more than the rest of him, so he slammed his back against the door and slid down until he lay, clutching his knees, on the floor and cried. Something told him that this would never be over. That they'd be chasing Ari with Kate forever and he'd never get her back. Tony lowered his head into his knees and cried when he heard someone bashing on the door from the other side.

"DiNozzo, are you there?" came Gibbs's voice from behind the door.

"Boss, boss is that you?" Tony cried and jumped back up.

"Yeah DiNozzo it's me. Give me a sec and we'll have you out of there. Stand back!" Gibbs yelled.

Tony did as he was told and stood back and seconds later, Tony heard a big thump and the door burst open and Gibbs stood there, smiling. But Tony took little notice of that and ran out of the room and down the hall.

"Where are you going DiNozzo?" Gibbs yelled after him.

"To get Kate. I'm not losing her again!" Tony called back and disappeared out of sight. Gibbs shook his head and ran after him. Gibbs was surprised that after all the beatings that Tony had thrust upon him, that he could run that fast.

* * *

Tony ran down the hallway but stopped suddenly to catch his breath and looked around. There were heaps of doors all along the hallway and he had no clue to which one contained the terrorist. Suddenly, without any warning, he heard a scream.  
"LET ME GO ARI!" came Kate's voice about two doors down. This boosted Tony's spirits and he sprinted to the door and threw it open. There stood Ari with his arm wrapped around Kate's neck and as soon as he noticed Tony standing at the door, he thrusted the gun underneath her neck.

"LET HER GO!" Tony demanded and walked even closer towards Ari.

"I thought we discussed this Agent DiNozzo," Ari replied not even batting an eyelid to the fact that Ari was there "If you try and help I'll kill her"

Tony gulped he'd completely forgotten about that since his mind was full of thoughts about getting Kate back.

"Give it up Ari," Tony said as calmly as he could knowing that he was clutching at straws "The FBI has this entire building surrounded, you'll never get out of here alive"

Ari thought for a moment before replying "I have a hostage they'll have no choice but to let me pass"

Tony gave a small snigger and took another step forward.

"You'd think that wouldn't you" Tony smirked hoping his plan was working.

"You know otherwise" Ari enquired slacking his grip on the gun just a little.

"They have snipers Ari," Tony explained "You'll be lucky if you take one step especially if you have a hostage"

Ari knew that Agent DiNozzo was right but he couldn't be brought down without getting his revenge on Gibbs.

"I guess I'll just have to take you both down with me then" Ari said smugly and before Tony even had time to blink Ari had raised his gun a fired directly at Tony's chest.

Kate screamed in horror as Ari's bullet hit Tony and he fell to the ground.

"Tony" Kate screamed and tried helplessly to get free from Ari to check on Tony who was moving slightly on the floor.

"Now you" Ari said sinisterly and pushed Kate away from him. Kate started to cry not only for Tony but for her, because now Ari was holding the gun at her and she knew she was about to die.

"This is the end Caitlin," Ai explained "the end of all the trouble you've caused me"

Kate closed her eyes as she heard the loud crack of a gun. After a few seconds had passed and Kate realized she hadn't been hit she slowly opened her eyes to find Ari laying on the ground lifelessly and Gibbs standing over him with his gun armed.

Once Gibbs was satisfied that Ari wasn't going to get up he lowered his gun and looked in Kate's direction only to find her kneeling over the motionless body of one of his best agents Tony DiNozzo.

Tears were flowing over Kate's cheeks as she knelt beside Tony putting pressure on his bullet wound.

"Kate?" Tony said weakly looking at Kate through his half open eyes.

"It's ok I'm here Tony," Kate replied putting more pressure on Tony's wound which was bleeding faster than she could control "Just hold on"

"I love you" Tony sighed heavily fighting the pain in his body.

Kate tried to stop crying as she said "I love you too" but she doubted Tony had heard her as he had fallen unconscious shortly after his declaration and she burst out crying again.

Gibbs stood shell shocked at what was unfolding in front of him, his agent lying lifeless on the ground bleeding heavily and Kate, who he had believed dead, was knelt over him trying to wake him up. Gibbs couldn't even be shaken out of his daze by Fornell yelling out his name as he too saw the scene.

Gibbs stood still long after Fornell had called for an ambulance and the director had shown up. Gibbs stared at Tony on the ground and feared the worst after all his agent was as pale as a ghost and looked completely dead.

* * *


	34. Chapter 34: Till death do us part

Kate stood looking over Tony's motionless body in shock. It hadn't taken the ambulance long to get there because Fornell had phoned ahead and arranged it to wait 5 minutes away from the warehouse in case of an emergency. Kate watched through tears as the medic's tried to resuscitate Tony who, due to massive blood loss and a possible punctured lung, had stopped breathing and his heart had stopped breathing. Gibbs walked over to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Kate placed a hand on top of his and then spun around and hugged him tightly. Gibbs rapped his hands around Kate and squeezed her back because; he too, was trying to fight back tears.

"He'll pull through this Kate" he said sympathetically.

Kate looked up at Gibbs and looked deeply in his eyes. "How do you know Gibbs?" she sobbed.

"Because" Gibbs said simply "I didn't give him permission to die"

This managed to put a tiny smile on Kate's face as she buried her face back into Gibbs's jacket and cried.

Suddenly Kate heard the sound she'd been praying for. After another attempt at CPR, Tony let out a huge gasp for air. Kate turned away from Gibbs and raced back to Tony's side.

"Tony, Tony" she begged "please wake up"

"Uh miss" said one of the medic's "you need to stand back and let us work"

"But I want to stay" Kate begged.

"Please miss stand back" the medic repeated.

Gibbs walked over to Kate and placed a hand on her shoulder, gently pulling her back. Kate wanted to resist but she allowed Gibbs to pull her away and pull her into another comforting hug. Kate turned to looked at Tony fight for life and bit her lip. After everything she'd been through the last 2 years, this was definitely the scariest moment yet, even scarier than Ari telling her she had 24 hours to live. She gently placed her head on Gibbs's chest and continued to watch Tony. Then, at a time when he really wasn't wanted, another medic walked over to Kate and Gibbs.

"Ok miss Todd" he said politely "I need to take a look at you"

Kate just looked at him and said nothing, clutching Gibbs harder.

"Can't this wait?" Gibbs asked.

"I'm afraid not" said the medic "Director Sheppard said that she got hit pretty hard on the head not long ago and lost conscious, so I need to take a look at her"

Gibbs looked down at Kate. "Let him look at you" he said gently but firmly. Kate nodded and reluctantly agreed to be checked out by the medic.

"But can we stay here?" she begged.

"Fine but you have to do everything I say, got it" he said with a smile.

Kate nodded and the medic led her over to a corner and started checking her over. He did the usual. Shining a light into her eyes, feeling the back of her head and asking questions like 'how long was she out for', 'does she feel dizzy or nauseous' and 'is her vision blurry'.

Gibbs turned from watching Kate being examined to Tony on the floor. By now he had a tube down his throat to help him breath and they were trying to figure out the best way to transport him to hospital.

"Are we right to transport him now?" asked one of the medic's.

"Not yet" replied the other medic "he's not stable enough. If we transport him now, then he'd die"

The other medic looked over at Kate and Gibbs who were still being examined and looked back at his college "he's probably not going to survive anyway Drew" he said "if this was a normal gunshot wound to the chest, then yeah he might. But this looks to serious to be a normal gunshot wound and with the amount of blood loss; I really don't think he's going to make the trip back to hospital"

Drew nodded, looked over at Kate and Gibbs and sighed. "Oh Wes. How are supposed to tell them that he's not going to survive?" he asked to no one in particular.

"We tell people all the time that people aren't going to survive," Drew said surprised at his college's question "how is this time going to be any different?"

Wes shook his head. "You have no idea what these people have gone through" he said with a passionate sigh and added pointing to Kate "see that woman over there?"

"Yeah" drew said, looking over.

"well they all thought she died when the terrorist over there shot her in the head with a sniper rifle" Wes explained and Drew shuttered as he continued "they thought she was dead for two years and only recently found out that she was being held hostage by the terrorist. Now, after a long and hard battle to get her back, they face losing another agent. I'm not so sure that they can handle this"

Drew nodded in agreement and both men turned back to work on stabilizing Tony.

From over in the corner, Kate looked over at the medic's with Tony.

"Can I go see him now?" she asked for the millionth time.

"Not yet" said her medic, who was struggling to examine her but with her constant moving around, it was proving kinda difficult. "Sit still" he complained.

Gibbs looked down at Kate and gave her a small smile and Kate took the hint and settled down.

"Ok" the medic said finally "we're going to get you to hospital now and get you properly checked out"

"NO!" Kate said firmly "I'm not going anywhere with out Tony"

"Well maam you've got no choice" he said "you have a concussion and see this…" he asked showing her his glove that he had been feeling the back of her head with "this is blood. Blood is not supposed to be outside the body which means that this is more than just a really bad headache"

Kate looked at him, then to Gibbs. "He's right you know" Gibbs said "you really do need to get properly checked out"

"But Gibbs" Kate whined "I want to stay here with Tony"

Gibbs knelt down beside her and placed a hand on her knee. "I understand that you want to stay here with DiNozzo but you need to go. I promise that if I don't inform you every…I don't know 10 minutes, then I give you permission to shoot me with my own weapon"

Kate smiled slightly but still didn't budge. "Kaaaate" Gibbs whined "why do you have to be so stubborn?"

"Because Gibbs" Kate said calmly with a smile "I was taught from the best"

Gibbs frowned and then laughed. The medic, however, wasn't as pleased with the events unfolding.

"You need to go now" he repeated.

Kate sighed. She knew he was right and although she didn't want to admit it, she was feeling kind of faint and nauseous, so she reluctantly agreed to go with the medic to the hospital. As she walked past Tony's motionless body she turned to Gibbs and said

"Remember, every 10 minutes or I get to shoot you".

Gibbs smiled and agreed to do just that as he watched Kate walk out of the room and turned back to Tony and is medics.

"How is he?" he asked extremely worried.

"Not good Sir" said Drew "we're still trying to stabilize him" Gibbs sighed and went to sit down on the chair that Kate was being examined on. But just as he was about to plant his butt on the seat, beepers suddenly went off from all angles.

"HIS HEART STOPPED AGAIN DREW!" Wes yelled at his partner "START CHEST COMPRESSIONS!"

Gibbs sprung up from his chair and raced over to Tony. "Hang in there buddy" he said and looked around in panic. This time he wasn't in control. He couldn't do anything to help the situation and he felt helpless. All he could do was stand back, let the medic's work their magic and pray that Tony would make it through.

"This isn't working," Wes said agitated to his partner "We need the portable defibulator"

"I know," Drew sighed "But we both need to be here doing CPR, how are we going to get it"

Wes knew his partner was right and started to look around hoping that something would come to him, suddenly he saw Gibbs watching intently.

"Umm Agent Gibbs could you come over here for a second?" Wes said causing Gibbs to look up at the sound of his name. Gibbs slowly made his way over to Tony's body and walked over to the medic who had called him.

"Ok do you know what a defibulator looks like?" Wes asked while still pressing down firmly on Tony's chest.

"Umm yeah I think so" Gibbs replied still in a daze as he took in the sight of Tony. His face was pale and Gibbs was worried that he hadn't seen the rise and fall of his chest that usually comes with breathing for a while.

"Here," Wes said snapping Gibbs out of his daze and handing him the keys to the ambulance "neither of us can leave so we need you to go out and get the portable defibulator from the ambulance"

Gibbs took the keys from the medics but remained frozen to the spot looking at Tony and the large amount of blood around his chest.

"Agent Gibbs," Wes exclaimed firmly trying to get Gibbs to move "we need the defibulator if we're going to save him"

At the word 'save' Gibbs forced himself to turn away from Tony and rush out of the warehouse towards the ambulance all the way hoping that Tony would survive and glad that Kate wasn't here to see this.


	35. Chapter 35: Going downhill

Once Gibbs was out of sight Wes turned to Drew and said "This hopeless he's never going to survive even if we can get him to hospital"

"I know it doesn't look good," Drew replied "but we can't just give up and let him die"

"Yeah I know," Wes sighed "I just wish I knew where all this blood was coming from"

"I think it hit his Thoracic Artery after it pierced his lung" Drew explained squeezing the bag attached to Tony's incubation tube.

"Dammit" Wes cursed knowing how bad this could make things on top of the fact that this Agent had obviously taken a beating and his body wasn't at its best to start with.

Drew looked over at his partner and noticed that his uniform was soaked with sweat and he was getting breathless.

"Hey Wes," Drew said "Do you wanna switch places you look as though you need a break"

"Yeah thanks" Drew replied and both medics quickly switched places and resumed CPR.

This continued for a couple more minutes until Gibbs finally came back with the portable defibrillator in his hands.

"OK Agent Gibbs," Drew said seeing Gibbs "I need you to take over for me so I can hook the defibrillator up and charge it"

Gibbs placed the defibrillator down next to Tony and walked over to where Drew was still giving Tony oxygen.

"Alright," Drew explained "squeeze this once for every 15 compressions"

Gibbs nodded and took the bag from Drew who walked quickly over to the defibrillator and plugged it in to the nearest power source.

"Charging to 200" Drew exclaimed and flicked the switch while Gibbs and Wes continued CPR.

"CLEAR" Drew yelled and shocked Tony as soon as Gibbs and Wes had stopped what they were doing. All of the men looked intently at Tony. Wes placed his fingers on Tony's neck and felt for a pulse.

"Nothing" Wes sighed and motioned for Gibbs to start squeezing the bag again.

"Charging to 360," Drew said loudly and again flicked the switch "Clear"

Once again Gibbs and Wes stopped what they were doing to watch if Tony responded. Wes checked Tony's pulse again and Gibbs couldn't describe the feeling of relief that washed over him when after a few seconds Wes finally said "We have a pulse"

Drew placed the defibrillator paddles aside and came back over to where Gibbs was still holding Tony's throat tube bag.

"You can go now Agent Gibbs," Drew said and gently took the bag from him "I can take over here"

Gibbs slowly got up from where he was kneeling and went back to where Kate was sitting a few minutes before, he collapsed into the chair still shocked at what was happening.

"We need to move him before he arrests again," Wes exclaimed checking Tony's pulse very frequently "his pulse is racing"

"I know but we have no idea what other injuries he has, moving him could kill him" Drew replied.

"Not moving him will do the same" Wes answered.

Drew sighed he knew he partner was right. "Alright, take over here and I'll get the stretcher".

Wes nodded and moved to take Drew's place at the oxygen bag. From a distance Gibbs watched as Drew came back with the stretcher and both medics carefully slid Tony onto it with Wes still giving Tony oxygen. Wes and Drew didn't move for a few seconds waiting to see if Tony would arrest again, when nothing happened they quickly but carefully rushed Tony outside and into the ambulance.

Gibbs noticed this and rushed out of the warehouse after them shouting "WHICH HOSPITAL?"

"BETHESDA" Drew yelled back and Gibbs ran to the car which he and Tony had arrived in as the ambulance drove away with its sirens blaring.

Gibbs paced the waiting room of the hospital. It had been about 4 hours since he had seen Tony wheeled out of the ambulance and into the hospital and he hadn't heard anything. Gibbs stopped for a moment and looked around the room. Ziva sat on one of the waiting room chairs next to Fornell and Ducky, who arrived only moments ago, and was trying to get information out of the doctors. Gibbs sighed, shook his head and continued pacing.

Suddenly Abby burst into the room. "GIBBS, GIBBS, GIBBS" she shrieked and ran up to Gibbs and hugged him.

"Yeah Abby I'm here" Gibbs said hugging her back but then he looked up "where's McGee?"

"I'm here" McGee called from the door way and wheeled himself in.

Abby looked around. For a moment there she had completely forgotten why she and McGee were called into the hospital in the first place. "Did you save Kate?" she asked desperately.

Gibbs suddenly went silent again and avoided eye contact.

Abby pulled away from Gibbs "no Gibbs" she said, about to cry again "no. she didn't, she isn't…"

"No Abby" Gibbs said, realizing what his silence had made Abby think "we did get Kate back and she's fine"

"REALLY!" Abby cried and then she paused "then why are we here?" she asked worriedly.

"Uh because…because…" Gibbs started to say but he just couldn't get what he needed to say out.

"Because Tony's hurt" came a teary but familiar voice from behind them and Gibbs, Abby and McGee all turned around and saw Kate standing there, her face puffy and red from crying.

"KATE!" Abby cried and ran over to her, throwing her arms around her friend and squeezing her tight.

McGee, although very happy and excited to see Kate again, had heard what she said and turned to Gibbs. "What's wrong with Tony?" he asked. Gibbs just went white and turned away.

"Gibbs" McGee asked concerned. This was so not like Gibbs so what ever happened to Tony must be serious.

McGee turned to Ducky "Ducky, can you tell me?" he begged.

Ducky sighed "Tony was shot trying to rescue Kate" he explained "I don't know the details yet but what I do know is that he is critical and…" he let his voice trail off and turned to look at Kate and Abby. Abby was still holding on to Kate as tightly as she could. There was no way that she was going to let her go this time.

Suddenly a doctor in a white lab coat came running down the hallway.

"There you are" he said pointing at Kate, puffing and trying to catch his breath. "You aren't meant to be out of your room"

Ducky smiled. This was the Kate he knew and loved.

"I want to stay here" Kate whined "please"

The doctor shook his head "you need to be in bed with that concussion of yours" he explained.

"But I don't have one" Kate argued, hoping that she could fake her way out.

The doctor stood there and smiled "fine then how many fingers am I holding up?" he said raising three fingers.

Kate looked at his hand and started to squint. His fingers kept moving and she was sure that he didn't have 6 fingers on one hand. "Uh" she said and took a lucky stab "three?"

"Good guess" said her doctor and lowered his fingers "but you're still coming with me"

"But" Kate whined "please let me stay. I want to know about Tony"

"I'm sure agent Gibbs can tell you when he gets updated but for now, can you please return to your room?"

"I'll look after her" Gibbs offered placing a hand on Kate's shoulder "she can stay here and if she shows any signs of getting worse, you'll be the first to know"

The doctor sighed. He knew there was no way that he was going to get Kate back into bed so he reluctantly agreed and walked away but not before saying "any change, you tell me".

Gibbs nodded and turned to Kate but just before he was about to give her some comforting words to try to get her feel better, one of Tony's surgeons walked up to them with a grim look on his face.


	36. Chapter 36: The wait begins

"Um are you here for Agent DiNozzo?" the surgeon asked as he came to a stop in front of Gibbs.

"Yes," Gibbs replied straightening up "How is he?"

The surgeon looked down at the ground and didn't make eye contact with Gibbs, this made Gibbs fear the worst as from what he could make out it did the same for the rest of his team.

"He's not…." Gibbs started to say but was cut off by the surgeon replying quickly "No"

"Then how is he?" Gibbs asked a little more forcefully this time.

"Well," the surgeon explained "his injuries were very extensive and I have to say he was lucky he even survived this far"

"Will he be ok?" Gibbs snapped getting sick of the surgeon dodging around his question.

"That's hard to say Agent Gibbs," the surgeon replied "We won't know the extent of the damage until he wakes up and to be frank with you I don't think he will"

"What do you mean" Gibbs exclaimed not believing what he was hearing.

"As I already said Agent Gibbs," the surgeon answered and Gibbs could tell he was getting frustrated "Agent DiNozzo's injuries were extensive and as a result he went into cardiac arrest at the scene, more than once I might add"

Before the surgeon could explain any further he was interrupted by Kate storming up to Gibbs with anger in her eyes.

"What do you mean more than once," Kate exclaimed "Gibbs you were meant to tell me everything"

"I know," Gibbs sighed "I didn't want to worry you"

"I WAS ALREADY WORRIED;" Kate yelled earning dirty looks from the other people occupying the hospital so she dropped her voice "you should have told me"

Gibbs tried to defend himself but after the surgeon cleared his throat ending his disagreement with Kate, Kate stormed back to her seat and refused to look at him. Taking this as he cue to find out more Gibbs turned back to the surgeon and said "What does that have to do with him waking up or not?"

"His brain was deprived of oxygen," the surgeon replied "this could have caused brain damage and depending on the extent of the brain damage, he may not wake up"

Gibbs was trying hard not to let his feelings out, after all Tony was here fighting for his life all because Gibbs hadn't waited for back up.

"Ah doctor can I speak with you?" Ducky asked from his spot in the corner.

The surgeon rolled his eyes and motioned for Ducky to follow him into one of the vacant rooms.

Once Ducky was sure that Gibbs and the rest of the team were out of earshot he asked "What exactly are his injuries?"

"Well the most obvious one is the gunshot wound to his upper torso, the surgeon explained "the bullet pierced his lung causing a pneumothorax before it tore a small hole in his thoracic artery, he also has a bullet fragment lodged between his T4 and T5 vertebrate"

Ducky held his breath as the surgeon rattled off the many of Tony's injuries and Ducky himself was surprised that Tony wasn't already dead.

"Anything else" Ducky asked hoping the answer would be no.

"Nothing extensive," the surgeon replied "just some bruising and a fractured cheek bone from the beatings he sustained"

"Thank you" Ducky sighed and even though it wasn't really his thing he said a small prayer in his head for Tony.

"Would you like me to explain this to Agent Gibbs?" the surgeon asked breaking Ducky's thoughts.

"No that's fine," Ducky replied "I can do that"

The surgeon shrugged and walked out of the room. After gathering his thoughts for a while Ducky also walked out of the room.

When Ducky arrived back in the waiting room he was greeted by looks from every single one of the NCIS team.

"What's going on Duck?" Gibbs asked knowing that Ducky would give him a straight answer.

"Well it's definitely not good," Ducky replied "I too am surprised how he has survived this long"

"DUCK" Gibbs exclaimed not needing to hear that statement again.

"Young Anthony has several potentially life threatening injuries," Ducky explained "First of all the bullet pierced his lung which caused it to collapse, that's why he stopped breathing, secondly the bullet also tore a whole in one of his major artery's which is why Tony lost so much blood and probably the reason why his heart stopped"

Ducky took a breath before continuing "A fragment of the bullet has become lodged between two of the bones in Tony's back and that is probably why the surgery took so long, it would have been a very complicated procedure"

Ducky stopped and looked around at the faces of his team, Gibbs was trying not to show his emotions but Ducky had known him to long and knew exactly how he was feeling. Kate and Abby were both crying in the corner while Ziva and McGee were exchanging shocked and worried glances.

"Anything else' Gibbs said with a little strain in his voice.

"Um not really," Ducky replied "just some bruising and a fractured cheek bone from the beating he took"

Gibbs nodded and tried to make it look as though he didn't feel anything, but he was really broken on the inside, even if Tony did live there was a strong chance that he would never be the same and that it was all his fault.

"So how is he?" Kate asked, prying herself away from Abby.

"Uh," Gibbs said, trying to think of the right thing to say "he's been better"

"I wasn't talking to you Special Agent Gibbs" Kate snapped and she turned to Ducky "so how is he?"

Ducky was a little surprised at Kate snapping at Gibbs. She had never done that before and he was a little lost for words.

"He's not to good Caitlin" Ducky said "we'll have to give him time to recover"

Kate nodded, gave Gibbs a nasty glare and turned back to Abby.

Gibbs was just about ready to punch a wall. Everything was going wrong and he blamed himself. It was his fault that Tony was lying in ICU fighting for his life, it was his fault that the director had been hurt and admitted to a ward because Ari wanted to make him suffer and now Kate was shitty at him because he broke his promise to tell her everything. Everything was spiralling out of control and there was nothing he could do about it.

Suddenly, a gurney was wheeled into emergency with a body bag on it. Everyone turned and looked at it in complete silence.

"I have a body for the morgue" said one of the medics.

"Name" the nurse at the desk asked casually without looking up from her paper work, as if she saw this sort of thing all the time and this was nothing special.

"Matthew Fergon" the medic said, reading off the name tag that was tied to the bag.

Gibbs, Kate, Ziva, McGee and Ducky all sympathetically turned to Fornell, who was staring silently at the floor. Even though it sounded bad, they had all forgotten about Ari shooting Fergon because they were worried about Kate, Tony and the director.

Fornell looked up from the floor and slowly made his way over to Fergon's body. The medic turned to Fornell and handed him a bag.

"I'm sorry for your loss" he said sympathetically and began to wheel the gurney away. Fornell walked over to an empty seat and emptied the contents onto it. Out fell Fergon's badge and his weapon, covered in his blood. Fornell just stared at the seat. Gibbs walked over to him and placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder.

"We're all sorry" he said.

"It's my fault" Fornell said quietly.

"No it's not" Gibbs disagreed.

"Yeah it is" Fornell argued "I'm the one who wanted to get Ari. I thought if I could bring him down, then I would have been considered for the promotion that was being offered. I sent Fergon in undercover. I'm the one who thought up his cover story. I'm the one who kept him in there, even though something was telling me that it wasn't going to end well. I'm the one who…" Fornell would have kept going but Kate walked up to him and gave him a hug.  
"You did the right thing" she whispered in his ear "if it wasn't for you and Fergon, I might not be here now. He helped save my life and so did you"

This made Fornell feel slightly better but only very slightly. He still blamed himself for Fergon's death and Gibbs knew exactly how he felt.

And then it happened. A second gurney was wheeled into emergency. Everyone turned and looked at the body bag. They all knew who was in it and it was quite obvious that they were all glad he was dead.

"Another body for the morgue" said the medic.

The nurse at the station rolled her eyes. "Name" she said again.

"Uh," he said, reaching for the tag "Ari Haswari" he answered.

A shiver went down everyone's spines when they heard Ari's name, it was something they never wanted to hear again.

Gibbs walked over to the medic and looked down at the body bag.

"Uh I've got nothing to give you" the medic said confused as to why Gibbs was standing there.

"I know" Gibbs said and turned to the medic "can I look at the body?"

"Why would you want to?" the medic asked. He was well informed about what Ari did to Gibbs and his team.

"Because I want to make sure the bastard is really dead this time" Gibbs explained.

The medic nodded and slowly opened the bag. As soon as Gibbs saw Ari's face, his stomach turned into a million knots. Just the look of him made him sick.

"How sure are you that he's dead?" Gibbs asked, not taking his eyes off the terrorist.

"He can't get any deader" the medic answered "can I take his body down to the morgue now?"

Gibbs nodded and walked back to his team as they watched as Ari's body was wheeled away, never to be seen again.


	37. Chapter 37: A suprise for Abby

Gibbs paced the hospital waiting room for what felt like the millionth time that day, Tony was still in recovery and the atmosphere in the room wasn't getting any better since Kate was still angry at him.

Gibbs looked around the room and saw Ducky deep in conversation with Fornell who was sorting through the rest of Fergon's things, he also noticed that Kate was still with Abby in the corner of the room and still refusing to look at him. Gibbs was about to start scouring the room for McGee when he saw the younger man heading towards him in his wheelchair.

"Uh Boss" McGee said nervously as he came to a stop in front of Gibbs who looked a lot taller thanks to the fact that McGee was in a wheelchair.

"Yeah McGee" Gibb replied not really in the mood to talk.

"I think you should go over and talk to Kate" McGee observed motioning in Kate's direction. Abby saw this and said something to Kate before getting up and walking over to where Gibbs and McGee where standing.

"What's going on?" Abby asked gently touching McGee's arm to let him know she was there.

"McGee here was just about to give me a lecture" Gibbs said sarcastically giving McGee an 'I'm the one who lectures you not the other way around' look.

"Don't think of it as a lecture," McGee replied keeping his cool "think of it more as advice"

Abby looked at McGee shocked, she had never heard McGee give advice before and she didn't really believe that he could.

"Whatever you're going to say just get it over with" Gibbs snapped really getting tired of this conversation that was going nowhere.

"Well think of it from Kate's point of view," McGee said trying to get across his point "I did and I would be angry at you too"

"What's so bad about not telling her that one of her friends was temporarily dead?" Gibbs exclaimed trying to defend himself.

"Nothing Gibbs," McGee answered getting frustrated at Gibbs arrogance "but that's just it, she's been lied to for the past two years and now she's just found out that the man who she has looked up to and considered a father figure for years has just lied and broken his promise to her, how do you expect her to react?"

"Aw McGee," Abby said sweetly and ran her hand through McGee's hair "my little advice guru"

"I wasn't finished" McGee replied gently pushing Abby's hand away, Abby nodded and stepped back from McGee listening intently.

McGee gave Abby a small smile before continuing.

"She was locked in a little white room thinking she was going to die every day," McGee said still quietly enough so Kate couldn't hear them "Now she's free and she's spent the whole time here wondering whether or not Tony will live"

Gibbs looked at the floor he knew McGee was right and he felt ashamed for not realizing all this himself.

"Can I hug you now?" Abby asked and stepped back up to McGee. McGee nodded and greeted Abby's hug eagerly.

"Hey what did I say about inter office relationships?" Gibbs exclaimed trying to lighten the mood. At this McGee looked at him confused and slackened his grip on Abby a little.

"Relationship, what relationship?" McGee replied wondering whether he was in trouble and turning back into the McGee everyone knew and loved.

Abby quickly pulled away from McGee and stormed off back into the corner where Kate was sitting.

"What did I do?" McGee yelled after Abby wondering what he had done wrong. Gibbs gave a smug smile and placed his hand on McGee's shoulder.

"Now it's my turn for the advice," Gibbs said and lifted his finger to stop McGee from interrupting "She likes you"

McGee's mouth dropped to the ground he knew that he absolutely adored Abby but he never in a million years considered the fact that's he felt the same way. Gibbs forcefully turned McGee around and pushed him Abby's direction obviously meaning for him to talk to her.

Gibbs watched as McGee came to a stop in front of Kate and Abby and after much convincing managed to get Abby to follow him into a vacant room.

Once McGee and Abby were gone and Gibbs was sure that Kate was by herself he took a deep breath and walked over to Kate.

"Kate" Gibbs said as he approached and then noticed the empty seat next to her and added "is that seat taken?"

Kate nodded her head as angrily as she could and still avoided eye contact with Gibbs. Gibbs sat down next to Kate and put his hands in his pockets, it was then that he felt the necklace that he had found at the crime scene. Gibbs fiddled with it in his hands for a bit before deciding that he'd give it back to Kate after he had talked to her, after all he had carried it around all this time.

"I'm so sorry Kate," Gibbs sighed and looked at the floor "I didn't want to tell you about Tony because I didn't want to worry you after all you'd been through"

"You still should have told me" Kate snapped and Gibbs was relieved when she eventually turned to look at him.

"I know" Gibbs agreed "but I was trying to make the situation easier for you"

Kate turned to face Gibbs. Gibbs could see that she was crying and was still rather angry. "How can you possibly make waiting to see if Tony is ok any easier?" Kate asked, tears streaming down her cheeks "not telling me will only make it worse when I find out"

"I know" Gibbs agreed again "I promise I'll tell you everything from now on. You have my word"

A small smile crossed Kate's face "actually you won't be able to tell me anything anymore" she said.

Gibbs looked confused "why not?" he asked.

"Because you said that if you didn't tell me everything, I can shoot you with your gun" she said with a small giggle.

Gibb smiled and remembered his promise and was glad that Kate was talking to him again. He was about to get up when he remembered the necklace.

"Oh one more thing. There's something I've been meaning to give you" he said and placed his hand in his pocket "I've carried it with me ever since we found it at the park and I think you should have it back" and without giving Kate a chance to guess what it was, he brought out her necklace. Kate gasped and clasped her hands over her mouth. She had completely forgotten about her necklace.

"I can't believe that you kept this" Kate said, about to cry again but for a different reason this time.

"Well I thought you'd want it back when we saved you from Ari" Gibbs said, "You do want it don't you?"

"Of course I do!" Kate said, snapping out of her trance.

Gibbs smiled and said "turn around" Kate did as she was told and Gibbs placed the necklace around her neck and did up the chain. Kate placed her hand on the cross and turned back to Gibbs.

"Are you talking to me now?" Gibbs asked sarcastically.

Kate smiled. "Yeah for now" she said "as long as you don't break your promise again"

"Uh I promise I won't" Gibbs promised smiling.

Kate smiled back at him and lent in for a hug, which Gibbs only to happily agreed to. As they sat there in the waiting room chairs, Gibbs's arm around Kate, they waited for any one to come with news about Tony.

* * *

"I'm sorry Abby," McGee sighed as they sat down on the examination table in the empty room "I just didn't realize that I was meant to be your boyfriend". Abby sank into the table and looked around shiftily. McGee noticed this and added "Have you been telling people I'm your boyfriend?" he asked concerned.

Abby gave a small smirk before replying "Only the guys who wont take no for an answer at the bar".

"What do you tell them" McGee said getting a little suspicious.

"Just that my boyfriend is a NCIS agent and carries a gun" Abby exclaimed still with a smirk on her face.

"You've been what!' McGee exclaimed, shocked that Abby had been telling people this "how many people have you told?"

"Umm maybe a few" Abby said uncomfortably.

McGee started to look really worried. "How many is a few?" he asked.

"Maybe….a lot" Abby finally said.

"Abby" McGee whined "anyone I know?"

"Umm did I mention I ran into your mother yesterday and this guy asked me out and kept coming back and…"

"ABBY!" McGee complained "that's why my mother has been congratulating me and she keeps telling me finally" McGee put his head in his hands. Abby looked kinda hurt.

"Don't you like me telling people you're my boyfriend?" she asked, slightly upset.

"No, no, no, no, no" McGee said quickly, waving his hands around "it's not that. It's just I'd like to know that I'm dating you before the whole world does. Understand?"

Abby nodded sadly and turned away. McGee saw this and made a rash and surprising decision to make it up.

"Not that I don't want to be your boyfriend" he added quietly.

Abby turned to McGee shocked and slightly confused. She wasn't sure if she had heard that right.  
"What did you say?" she asked McGee.

"I said that I never said that I didn't _want_ to be your boyfriend. I just wanted to know that I was before my mother finds out" he said with a smile.

Abby nodded slowly. "Does this mean that I can tell people that you are my boyfriend now?" she asked.

"Uh technically you already do" McGee laughed.

"No I mean REALLY tell people now" Abby said repeating herself "like tell people that you are the property of Abby now?"

McGee gave a small smile before lifting his hands a pulling Abby towards him. Abby was completely shocked as McGee kissed her passionately. She'd never picked McGee as one for making the first move.

"So does that mean yes?" Abby said once McGee has broken away.

"Do I have to spell it out for you?" McGee replied getting slightly frustrated. Abby shrugged her shoulders and smiled as McGee pulled her close and kissed her again


	38. Chapter 38: Another twist

It had been about 9 hours since Tony had first been brought into the hospital and Gibbs had started pacing once again. Gibbs took a quick glance around the room, which he had been doing a lot, and noticed that he was the only one still awake. Kate lay across 3 chairs sound asleep, while Abby was using a sleeping McGee's lap as a pillow. After scouring the room further Gibbs noticed that Fornell had left and Gibbs assumed that he was telling Fergon's family what had happened. Gibbs turned around and looked down the hallway once again remembering that he had sent Ziva to keep the director company, suddenly Gibbs heard a voice behind him and was slightly startled.

"You should join them Jethro" Ducky said placing a hand on Gibb's shoulder.

"I need to be awake in case anything happens" Gibbs replied not wanting to sleep while he didn't know if Tony would live or not.

"I'm quite capable of staying awake and letting you know the moment I hear anything" Ducky whispered pretending to be insulted. Gibbs was going to argue but he silently relented after seeing the look in Ducky's eyes.

Gibbs nodded and was about to join the rest of is team when he saw a young female doctor heading towards them with a chart in her hands.

"Hi Agent Gibbs" the doctor said cheerfully.

"Yes" Gibbs replied feeling a little relieved since this doctor seemed happy.

"Hi I'm Doctor Isabel Daniels," the doctor said once again cheerfully "I'm Agent DiNozzo's doctor"

At the mention of Tony's name Gibbs's heart skipped a beat, he forgot how tired he felt and instantly started flooding Dr Daniels with questions.

"How is he" Gibbs asked getting anxious.

"Lucky" Dr Daniels replied still clutching her clipboard.

"What does that mean?" Gibbs exclaimed getting annoyed that he wasn't getting a straight answer.

"Well," Dr Daniels explained "Mr. DiNozzo's injuries were very severe and normally with injuries like his the victims don't even make it to the hospital let alone live through surgery"

"So will he be alright?" Gibbs asked hoping that the answer would be yes.

"It's hard to say," Dr Daniels replied "his brain was deprived of oxygen and while I expect him to wake up I won't know whether he has suffered an permanent damage until he does"

"Are you saying he could be brain damaged?" Gibbs answered now feeling guiltier than ever.

"It's a possibility" Dr Daniels sighed looking to the floor.

Gibbs could feel the tears welling up inside him, he couldn't believe he had done this to Tony; he had ruined the rest of his life.

"Can we see him?" Gibbs asked.

"Yes," Dr Daniels replied lifting Gibbs's spirits a little bit "He's in recovery at the moment so I'm afraid it's immediate family only"

Gibbs's heart sank he knew he couldn't pass himself off as Tony's family and the hospital had probably already checked anyway. It was then that Gibbs had an idea.

"His girlfriend is here" Gibbs exclaimed motioning at the sleeping Kate.

Dr Daniels looked over at Kate for a moment before saying "Do you want to wake her?"

Gibbs nodded and walked over to Kate; he placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her gently. Kate opened her eyes slowly and looked up at Gibbs.

"What's up?" Kate said drowsily sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"We can go see Tony" Gibbs replied. At this Kate bolted up out of her chair and practically ran to where Tony's doctor was standing.

"So you're Agent DiNozzo's girlfriend?" Dr Daniels asked.

Kate gave Gibbs a confused look but at his nod replied "Yeah can I see him?"

"Follow me" Dr Daniels replied and Gibbs watched as Kate and Tony's doctor walked down the hall and into the doors of ICU.

* * *

Kate took deep breaths as her and Dr Daniels edged closer to Tony's room before they finally came to a stop in front of a closed door with the number 22 on it. Kate was about to open the door when Dr Daniels placed her hand gently over the doorknob and said "Now I have to warn you, seeing him could be quite confronting" 

"What do you mean?" Kate asked getting worried.

"Well he's hooked up to a few machines and tubes and seeing that could be very alarming for you" Dr Daniels replied.

Kate nodded and gulped as Dr Daniels opened the door. Kate couldn't help but gasp as she saw the man she loved with several tubes protruding out of his body. A small tear fell down Kate's cheek as she edged closer to Tony's bed and sat down on the small chair that was already beside him.

"Do you want me to explain what the tubes are for?" Dr Daniels asked.

Kate nodded and took Tony's hand gently rubbing it affectionately with her thumb.

"Ok this one here," Dr Daniels explained motioning to the correct tube "is called a drain, it's routine after any surgery and makes sure the wound doesn't get infected"

Once Dr Daniels was sure that Kate had absorbed that bit of information she continued.

"As you can see he has two tubes in his chest one is the drain and the other is a chest tube which we are using to get rid of the air around Tony's collapsed lung, Tony is also attached to a ventilator to help his breathing and that is why he has a tube down his throat"

Kate looked around a noticed all the tubes that Dr Daniels was saying, Kate gripped Tony's hand harder and continued to listen.

"Finally," Dr Daniels said "There is an IV attached to Tony's hand which is stopping him from getting dehydrated and the wires attached to his chest are to measure his heart rate" after taking a quick look around Dr Daniels added "Oh and there is also a pulse measuring device on the end of his finger"

"Thank you for all this" Kate said thankfully "it means a lot"

"Just doing my job" Dr. Daniels said and walked out.

Kate turned back to Tony and continued to stroke his hand and looked up at the clock. It was just after three in the morning. 'No wonder I'm so tired' Kate thought to herself 'maybe I could just rest my eyes some more' and she placed her head down on Tony's bed beside his body and closed her eyes, still clutching Tony's hand as she fell asleep listening to the noises of Tony breathing.

* * *

Gibbs walked towards Tony's room for the millionth time. It had been four days since Tony was admitted into hospital and neither he nor Kate had left Tony's bedside since then. Gibbs walked the familiar corridor which led to Tony's room and bumped into his doctor, Dr. Isabel Daniels.

"How is he?" Gibbs asked.

"He's doing ok" Dr. Daniels said "we won't know anything until he wakes up but with friends like you guys, he'll be fine no matter what happens"

Gibbs smiled as she walked off and entered Tony's room. Kate was sitting in the chair next to Tony's bed just like she'd been for the past four days. Gibbs walked up to Kate and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"How is he?" he asked calmly.

Kate remained looking at Tony "he still hasn't woken up Gibbs" she said not taking her eyes off him "Dr. Daniels said that he should have woken up two days ago but nothing's changed" Kate turned to Gibbs and wrapped her arms around his waist "I'm really worried about him" she sobbed "he just has to be ok"

"He'll be ok" Gibbs told Kate.

Kate looked up at Gibbs "how do you know?" she asked, tears welling in her eyes.

"Because" Gibbs said "you don't know how much Tony wanted to see you again. I highly doubt that a tiny little bashing and been shot will stop him"

Kate smiled and turned back to Tony. Gibbs took the hint and went towards the door. "Do you want anything?" he asked from the doorway "a coffee, a sandwich or something?"

Kate shook her head "no thank you" she said.

Gibbs nodded and walked away. Kate listened to Gibbs's disappearing footsteps while she continued to gently rub Tony's hand with her thumb.

"Oh Tony" she said quietly "you have to pull through this. Please pull through this" and she laid her head down very softly on his chest so she didn't hurt him and added with a whisper "because I love you" and she closed her eyes, listening to Tony's heartbeat.

As Kate listened to Tony's heart beat, something in her hand started to move. She quickly pulled herself up and looked down at her hand. All she had in it was Tony's hand but that wasn't moving.

"Must have been imaging things" she said to herself but continued looking at Tony's hand because something in her gut was telling her to. And, as if by a miracle, the pinky finger on Tony's hand started to move.

"Tony," Kate said quietly getting really excited "Tony are you awake?"

Tony's other fingers suddenly started to move and he began to groan and then he began to choke.

Kate sprung up from her chair as she watched Tony struggle for breath. "DR. DANIELS!" she cried "DR. DANIELS! TONY CAN'T BREATHE! COME QUICK!" All of a sudden, Dr. Daniels and three nurses rushed into Tony's room and began checking him over.

"What's happening?" Kate asked in between tears "why is he choking?"

Dr. Daniels pulled Kate aside while the nurses worked on Tony. "This is a good thing Kate" she said trying to comfort her.

"How is Tony choking a good thing?" Kate asked, concern filling her voice.

"Because this means that Tony is breathing on his own and doesn't need the ventilator to help him breathe anymore" Dr. Daniels explained.

Kate looked over at Tony and watched as one of the nurses began to pull out the ventilator tube from Tony's throat. As soon as that was out, another nurse placed an oxygen mask on his face. Once that was on, Tony started to calm down and began to breathe normally, although a little wheezy.

Kate and Dr. Daniels walked slowly over to Tony' bed and as Kate sat back down on her chair, Dr. Daniels started asking Tony some questions.

"Agent DiNozzo," she said "how do you feel?"

Tony weakly looked over at Dr. Daniels and mumbled something that could have been a "ok I guess"

Kate looked worriedly at Dr. Daniels. "Why is he talking like that?" she asked.

Dr. Daniels smiled "he's had a ventilator down his throat for four days Miss Todd and his throat will be pretty sore" she said and turned back to Tony.

"Do you remember what happened?" she asked.

Tony thought for a moment and shook his head. Kate again looked worriedly at Dr. Daniels but the doctor saw her and knew what her next question would be, so beating Kate to the question she explained that most people don't remember major accidents and that Tony not remembering is normal.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Dr Daniels asked Tony trying to find out the extent of Tony's memory loss. Tony brought his hand up to the oxygen mask over his face and lifted it slightly so as to make what he was saying clearer.

"Being….tied...to a…chair" Tony wheezed referring to when he and Gibbs had been caught in Ari's warehouse.

"Ok that's good," Dr Daniels replied "Any pain, numbness or anything like that?"

Tony took a few deep breaths from the oxygen mask before looking at Kate with concern in his eyes, Dr Daniels caught on to this and knew what was wrong.

"Miss Todd why don't you go and tell Agent Gibbs that Tony is awake" Dr Daniels said cheerfully.

"I want to stay here" Kate replied not wanting to leave Tony.

"He'll be fine," Dr Daniels exclaimed "besides I can't allow visitors in the room while I check him over"

Kate gave Dr Daniels a pleading look before giving in and taking one last look over her shoulder at Tony before leaving the room. Once Dr Daniels was sure Kate was gone she turned back to Tony and asked "What's wrong?"

Tony lifted the oxygen mask up once again and replied "I….can't feel…my legs"


	39. Chapter 39: Kate's future

Dr Daniels couldn't help but smile, she had been worried that it was going to be something much worse unfortunately Tony noticed her smiling and wheezed "I…don't think…this is…very funny"

Dr Daniels immediately stopped smiling and realized what her happiness had come across as.

"No it's not that," Dr Daniels explained "It's just I thought you were going to tell me something really bad and I was relieved you didn't"

Even though his eyes were half closed from weariness Dr Daniels could see the confused look on Tony's face.

"This is completely normal," Dr Daniels said "It's nothing to be worried about"

Tony took another gasp of oxygen and replied "What…do you mean?"

"You just had extremely complicated spinal surgery to remove a bullet fragment from your spine," Dr Daniels answered "the surgeons had to go close to your spinal cord so it is perfectly normal for you to experience some numbness" at Tony's worried glance she added "It should go away in a few days and you should regain full use of your legs"

If Tony could of he would have sighed a huge sigh of relief at the doctor's good news and it was then that he decided that if it was nothing to worry about then there was no reason to tell Kate or Gibbs.

As if she could somehow hear his thoughts Kate came bursting into the room with Gibbs in tow, Tony looked over at the door and noticed that McGee and Abby weren't far behind.

"Welcome back DiNozzo" Gibbs said as he entered the room with his usual coffee mug in his hand.

"Hey Boss" Tony replied drowsily and gave him a weak wave.

"How are you Tony?" McGee asked dragging Abby into the room behind him.

"Never felt better" Tony answered managing not to wheeze but instead let out a painful cough.

"Oh here" Dr Daniels said and brought a cup of water to Tony's lips. Tony drank gently taking small sips and he could already feel the water starting to soothe his throat, but his chest was still sore. Tony looked around and noticed that Kate was once again sitting by his beside and McGee was squeezing Abby's hand affectionately, then Tony noticed something else.

"Hey McGee," Tony said trying to sound less tired than he was "where's your wheels?"

McGee looked down as if he had just noticed the brace on his leg himself before replying "Oh yeah I went and had another X-ray and the doctors said that I should be able to manage in this"

"So what else have I missed?" Tony asked, his voice starting to give out a little.

"Well," McGee said cautiously and gave a small smile at Abby "Abby and I are kind of…well together"

Tony stared open mouthed at McGee and Abby; he couldn't believe they had finally gotten their act together.

"So Abby,' Tony asked with as big a smile he could muster on his face "how'd you finally tell him?"

"Actually," Abby replied "it was McGee who made the first move"

At this Tony was even more surprised he never thought they would get together let alone that McGee would be the one making the first move.

Tony turned to face Kate at his bed side and looked at Kate funny. She was wearing jeans and a nice top but what was suddenly interesting to him was the hospital id bracelet that she had on her wrist.

"What's that for?" Tony asked picking up her right wrist with the bracelet on it.

"Oh it's nothing" Kate said trying to shrug it off.

"No you only get that when you're admitted" Tony said, remembering this from when he was dating Jeanne "why were you admitted? Are you hurt?"

Kate shook her head "well kinda but I'm ok. It's you we're all worried about"

Tony looked serious "forget about me. What happened to you" he demanded, although the seriousness of Tony's question was degraded slightly with his constant coughing.

Kate leaned over and gave Tony another cup of water while she explained. "Ari hit me on the head with his gun" she said "I got a couple of stitches and I had a big headache for a while but I'm ok now. Seriously"

Tony suddenly tried to bolt up in bed but was stopped by Gibbs and Kate gently pushing him back down that and an agonizing pain shooting through his chest.

"Ari…" he said breathlessly, grabbing the oxygen mask again and placing it on his face "we…have to…get him"

Kate smiled and patted Tony on his arm. "Gibbs got him" she said "he got him good and he's never coming back again to hurt us again, ever"

Tony looked relieved and turned to face Kate. "What happened to me?" he asked. Kate looked around at Gibbs, Abby and McGee and gave them a concerned look. Gibbs nodded and started to mush Abby and McGee out of the room.

"But I wanna hear" Abby whined and Gibbs pushed her out of the room.

"You've already heard it" Gibbs informed her.

"oh right," Abby said, realizing what it was "got ya" and the three of them walked down the hallway to get some coffee, or in Abby's case, find out if they sold Caf Pow's.

Once they had left, Kate turned back to Tony. By now Tony had an extremely concerned look on his face. If Kate had practically asked everyone to leave, then it must be serious.

"well," she began "after you were tied up Jesse, one of Ari's thugs, brought me out and I…well I wouldn't leave your side and Ari got angry and he sent his thugs to remove me and I kind of…hurt them" Tony looked at the ceiling and smiled as he imagined Kate teaching the thugs a lesson and turned back to Kate as she continued "Ari then decided that he could do a better job himself and he…hit me on the back of my head and kinda knocked me out"

Tony tilted his head "then what happened?"

Kate shrugged her shoulders "I don't remember anything after that. The next thing I remember is waking up in my room with you crouching over me"

"What here?" Tony said confused by the 'her room' comment.

"Oh no" Kate said, realizing what she had said "my room in the warehouse where Ari kept me" she said "you had been bashed and you were crouching over me, shaking me and waking me up"

Tony again looked at the ceiling "I don't remember that" he said.

"Then you probably don't remember…" Kate said and paused, slowly realizing that Tony probably didn't remember them revealing their feeling for one another and kissing.

"Nothing" Kate said quietly "after the room Ari came and took me. You followed and confronted him and he shot you. After that you were brought here and well, you can guess the rest"

Tony nodded but had the feeling that Kate wasn't telling him something "anything else I should know?" he asked, trying to prompt her into telling him what she wasn't.

Kate shook her head "no, nothing" she sighed "can I get you anything?"

"Uh…no" Tony said slowly and curiously "I don't need anything"

"ok well I'm going to…uh get…something to drink" Kate said, trying to get out of the room "I'll see you soon" and with that she got up and quickly walked out and past Gibbs who had been standing there for the last minute or two. Gibbs watched as Kate walked down the hallway and he could guess that she was wiping away tears. Gibbs walked into Tony's room slowly and cautiously.

"What did you do now DiNozzo?" he asked casually and in his usually Gibbs voice.

"nothing…I don't think" Tony said defensively "she was telling me what happened and all of a sudden, she got really quiet, stuttered a bit and then all her sentences were short like she was trying to leave. I have no idea what I've done"

"Maybe it's not what you've done but what you can't remember" Gibbs suggested.

"What do you mean Gibbs?" Tony asked nervously.

"I mean maybe something happened between you and Kate while you were in the room and she's upset that you can't remember"

"What could have happened in the…" Tony started but stopped when he realised what Gibbs said "how do you know she got all weird when she was talking about the room?"

"Ok I confess" Gibbs said, raising his hands in the air defensively "I was outside your door for most of your conversation"

"You were!" Tony said, feeling kind of insulted that Gibbs didn't let them have their privacy.

"Yeah well you can't blame me" he said defending himself "everyone's worried about you. If I hadn't threatened to fire Abby and McGee, they would have stayed too"

Tony went from Gibbs to back looking at the ceiling. He wished he could remember what happened in that room. Then he turned to Gibbs again.

"Can you ask her what happened?" he begged "please. I need to know what happened"

Gibbs nodded "fine I'll ask her" he agreed "but I can't guarantee that she's going to tell me" and with that, he walked out of Tony's room. Tony remained staring at the door and closed his eyes, thinking as hard as he could, trying to remember what happened in the small white room.

* * *

Gibbs walked down the hallway of the hospital. He had been searching for a good ten minutes now and he still couldn't find Kate but Gibbs knew that if Kate didn't want to be found, then he probably wasn't going to find her. Gibbs turned into the cafeteria of the hospital and looked around. It was unusually full at the moment but Kate was one of the few people that weren't in the room. Gibbs turned to leave when he felt his phone vibrate. He reached down to his pocket and picked his phone up. Gibbs looked at caller I.D and noticed that it was the director calling.

"Uh hello" Gibbs said into the phone.

"Jethro, it's me Jenny" the director said casually.

"Uh yeah I do have caller I.D on my phone" Gibbs said frankly.

"Oh right" the director said, realizing how stupid that made her seem "I need to talk to Kate. Can you put her on?"

"Uh director" Gibbs said curiously "why are you calling and where are you?"

"In my office and I need to talk to Kate" the director answered.

"But you were admitted into hospital. When did you get out?" Gibbs asked surprised.

"Well if you had bothered to come and see me then you'd know that all I had was a few bruises and a couple of small cuts. No stitches, not fractures or broken bones and all I had to do was stay in hospital overnight. I was released three days ago"

Gibbs stood there surprised. After worrying about Tony he had completely forgotten that his boss was also hurt during the whole Ari incident.

"Why are you at work?" Gibbs asked "shouldn't you be at home resting?"

"I feel fine Jethro" the director said reassuring Gibbs "but I really need to speak to Kate. I've received a number of calls regarding her future employment"

"Her employment! Like at NCIS?" Gibbs asked, confused as such.

"Here and a number of other places but I really need to speak to Kate. Where is she?" the director asked again, for now the third time.

"She's unavailable at the present moment" Gibbs answered, looking around hoping to spot her soon.

"Unavailable?" the director repeated, curiously.

"I'll get her to call you back A.S.A.P" Gibbs said and hung up the phone. Gibbs sighed heavily and continued on his search for Kate, now worrying, not only about what happened in the room but also about what her future was going to hold at NCIS.


	40. Chapter 40: The end of a friendship

**Just to warn you, this chapter is a little short. This is because we found the perfect place to end it, so we up loaded this one straight after the previous chapter to give you guys a decent amount to story to read. Keep reading!**

* * *

Gibbs continued on his search for Kate. He had no idea how she could hide so well but then he had an idea and went straight to the roof of the hospital and as if by a miracle, Kate was standing on the roof, looking over the barrier. 

"Found you" Gibbs explained, glad that the search was over.

Kate turned to look over her shoulder and turned back. "how did you know I was going to be here?" she asked without taking her eyes off the landscape in front of her.

"because you've been cooped up in a warehouse for two years and a hospital for four days" he explained "it'd make sense you'd go somewhere outside"

Kate smiled to herself but remained where she was. Gibbs walked over to her and joined her at the barrier.  
"so what you thinking about?" he asked casually.

"stuff" Kate answered just as casually.

Gibbs sighed. Here came another talk. "look what happened between you and DiNozzo?" he asked.

"nothing" Kate said defensively "its nothing really"

"sure it is" Gibbs said sarcastically "that's why your eyes are red from crying again"

Kate subconsciously wiped her eyes and looked at Gibbs. "why doesn't he remember what happened Gibbs?" she asked.

"because sometimes people don't" Gibbs said sympathetically "it's something that just happens. Why is it so important for him to remember what happened. Do you want him to relive the beating and the shooting?"

Kate shook her head "no Gibbs but……" she said, pausing and adding with a heavy sigh "but I want him to remember what we did"

"which was…" Gibbs said asked a leading question.

"we told each other how we felt and now he can't remember it" Kate said, tears swealing up in her eyes again for probably the millionth time.

Gibbs sighed. He had no idea what to say to that. He understood that Kate's heart was probably breaking because Tony couldn't remember an important event but what was he supposed to say? So he said what he usually says "go talk to him"

"how am I supposed to tell Tony 'hey guess what you admitted your feeling for me and I did the same and we kissed and everything but you don't seem to remember that"

"you kissed!" Gibbs said kind of gobsmacked "you never mentioned that part"

"oh yeah well we did" Kate said "and now he doesn't remember it"

Gibbs placed a sympathetic hand on her shoulder and told her to go to Tony and talk to him. "oh and by the way" he added as Kate was making her way to the door of the roof "the director wants to speak to you" Kate nodded and exited the roof, leaving Gibbs standing there, for probably the first time in his life after Tony's shooting, speechless.

* * *

Tony lay silently on his hospital bed with his eyes closed, he wasn't asleep but anyone who came in to check on him would assume he was. Tony could feel himself starting to drift off when his door opened, Tony didn't really feel like talking to anyone at the moment so he continued to lay there with his eyes closed. 

From the door a slightly less upset but very nervous Kate looked at Tony peacefully laying on the bed, Kate decided not to disturb him and that she would come back.

"I'm awake you know" Tony said with his eyes still closed startling Kate who was halfway to the door.

"Oh ok," Kate replied softly and nervously "I thought you were asleep"

"Just resting my eyes" Tony sighed and slowly opened them and turned to Kate.

"Well look," Kate said noticing Tony looking at her "You look tired I might just come back later"

Kate started edging towards the door slowly but making sure she didn't take her eyes of Tony who was staring at her.

"Why are you avoiding me?" Tony asked casually still watching Kate.

"I'm not" Kate replied trying to sound insulted.

"Right," Tony exclaimed sarcastically "that's why you're edging towards the door while saying that"

Kate stopped dead in her tracks and folded her arms before repeating "I'm not"

Tony let out an exasperated groan but it ended up more like a cough so Kate walked over and gave Tony some water. Before Kate could pull her arm away Tony grabbed hold of it gently and whispered "How can I apologise if I don't know what I've done"

"You haven't done anything Tony" Kate sighed and pulled her arm away softly.

"Then why did talking about that room make you so upset" Tony replied knowing that something was definitely not right.

"It's just something important happened in that room" Kate answered suddenly looking to the ground before adding "between you and me"

Tony could kind of see where this was going but he wanted to make sure before he made a complete fool of himself. Kate saw Tony's confusion and decided to start with something he would remember.

"Do you remember that phone call you made to Ziva while she was undercover?" Kate asked.

"I remember you not giving me an answer" Tony replied with a smirk on his face.

"Yeah well that's what happened" Kate said hoping that Tony would catch on.

"What," Tony exclaimed "We talked about the phone call"

"Yeah" Kate sighed starting to blush slightly.

"Let me guess," Tony said disappointed "the answer was no"

Kate looked up shocked that Tony could think that after what they had just been through, but then she remembered that he didn't know what they had been through.

"No Tony" Kate replied.

"Oh," Tony answered sounding even more saddened "hell no"

Kate was getting sick of Tony not getting the point and made a split second decision that she hoped she wouldn't regret.

"Tony close you eyes for a second" Kate said with a huge smile on her face.

"Why?" Tony asked cautiously.

"Just do it" Kate ordered and was relieved when Tony did as she asked.

Kate took a few deep breaths and walked over to Tony's bedside, she looked at Tony lying there with his eyes closed and hoped she was doing the right thing. Kate leant down and gently placed her lips on Tony's kissing him softly but passionately. After a while Kate broke away from Tony and stepped back from his bed.

"Ok you can open your eyes now Tony" Kate said pretty relieved since Tony hadn't pulled away.

Tony opened his eyes and looked over at Kate opened mouthed and with a look of utter shock in his eyes. Kate could feel the tears welling up, she had made a mistake, and Tony's feelings had changed.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry," Kate said trying to fight back the tears "I shouldn't have done that…I'm so stupid"

Kate started to run out of the room but was stopped by someone holding onto her arm. Kate turned around to find that Tony was holding her arm firmly to stop her from leaving; she also noticed the huge grin on his face.

Tony pulled Kate firmly down towards him and returned her kiss before saying "You are not stupid"

Kate smiled and allowed herself to once again melt into Tony's arms as the embraced again just like they had in the white room.

Kate and Tony were so preoccupied with each other they hadn't even noticed Ziva enter the room and catch them. If they had of noticed her they would have seen tears roll down her cheeks as her heart was crushed into a million pieces. After all she had just seen the man she liked maybe even loved in the arms of another woman. Ziva knew from that moment that her and Kate would no longer be friends.


	41. Chapter 41: Ziva's wrath

After a few seconds of letting Kate and Tony do whatever they were doing Ziva was getting sick of it and cleared her throat loudly enough for them to hear. Kate and Tony instantly broke away and turned to look at Ziva and she noticed that they were both blushing.

"Oh sorry," Ziva said coldly and sarcastically "Was I interrupting something?"

Kate pulled her hand out of Tony's before replying "No nothing"

"Ah actually…." Tony started to say but was cut off my Kate gently nudging his arm.

"Good," Ziva replied "that means I can have Tony for a few minutes"

"What are you doing here Ziva?" Tony asked annoyed that Ziva had interrupted him and Kate.

"Well I thought I would visit MY partner since I haven't seen you at all" Ziva exclaimed looking at Kate as she emphasized the word my.

"Well if all goes to plan," Kate answered jokingly "I'll be back at NCIS and he'll be my partner"

Ziva immediately turned to look at Kate with a look of death in her eyes.

"What do you mean by that?" Ziva snapped still glaring at Kate.

Kate stood shocked, she didn't expect Ziva to take what she had said seriously after all she was only joking.

"Nothing," Kate said trying to defend herself "I was kidding"

"Well it sounded like you wanted my job" Ziva replied coldly still sour that Kate had Tony.

"I don't" Kate snapped defensively "I never said that"

"Yeah well you implied it" Ziva said even more coldly than before.

Kate was a little taken back by Ziva's coldness. She was so nice when Kate was with Ari and Kate couldn't understand what was wrong.

"Do you mind if I have a word with MY partner privately" Ziva said sharply.

"Can you stop saying that" Kate snapped back, getting annoyed "he's not just your partner. If I get my job back then he'll be my partner"

"Since when" Ziva said barked.

"Since he was my partner before he was yours" Kate retorted.

"Yeah well maybe it's a good thing he's not your partner anymore" Ziva said almost yelling.

"Oh and why is that?" Kate asked raising her voice a little too.

"Because at least when you were dead you weren't around to get him shot" Ziva answered and she knew at that moment that she had crossed the line and there was no going back.

Tony had had enough Ziva had gone too far and he had to put a stop to it. Kate went silent and looked at the floor, Ziva had hit a nerve, Kate did blame herself for Tony getting shot after all if she hadn't of let NCIS know where she was none of this would have happened.

"I'm just going to go" Kate said and started to leave.

"No," Tony replied "You don't need to go Ziva can leave"

Ziva glared at Tony and was extremely happy when Kate said "No I have to go anyway the director wants to talk to me"

"What about?" Tony asked.

"My employment options" Kate answered and walked out of the room making sure she bumped into Ziva on the way out.

Once Kate was out of earshot Ziva put a smile on her face and half walked and half skipped towards Tony's bed.

"So how are you?" Ziva asked cheerfully.

"What the hell was that?" Tony yelled not believing what had just happened.

"What do you mean?" Ziva replied innocently.

"What you just said to Kate," Tony explained "you were way out of line, you know it was nobody's fault"

"Yeah I know," Ziva said trying to make Tony forgive her "I'm sorry"

"I think you should leave" Tony snapped and looked away from Ziva.

"I said I was sorry" Ziva pleaded not wanting Tony angry at her.

"JUST GO" Tony yelled and threw his empty water cup at her and watched as it landed at her feet.

Ziva could feel the tears starting to swell in her eyes but she knew better then to argue so she just turned around and left hoping things would cool down.

As Tony heard Ziva's footsteps disappear down the hall he thought of how if he wasn't stuck in this hospital bed he would be going to see Kate. Before Tony could think anymore he was interrupted by the door to his room opening once again. Tony turned to look and saw Gibbs enter closely followed by Abby and McGee.

"What did you do now DiNozzo?" Gibbs said sarcastically as he entered once again with a coffee in his hand.

"Nothing" Tony replied.

"Well why did Kate AND Ziva just storm out of your room?" Gibbs exclaimed fishing for an explanation.

Tony sighed and decided that Gibbs would have to find out sometime.

"Well Ziva kinda caught Kate and I doing…..things," Tony explained "and then she started attacking Kate". After a look of utter horror from McGee Tony added "verbally"

"That explains why Kate walked out," Gibbs said "now why did Ziva?"

"Because," Tony answered remembering how angry he was at her "she was way out of line and I told her to leave, when she wouldn't go I threw that at her". Gibbs, McGee and Abby all looked where Tony was pointing and saw the empty water cup on the ground.

"What did she say?" McGee asked horrified that Ziva had attacked Kate.

"She blamed Kate for me getting shot" Tony replied bluntly.

Gibbs started to clench his fists he couldn't believe that one of his agents had said that and worst of all it was to another one of his agents.

"Any idea where she went?" Gibbs asked through clenched teeth.

"No," Tony replied "and frankly I couldn't care less"

"McGee," Gibbs barked causing the younger agent to jump "go find Ziva and bring her back here"

"You want me to go and find the trained killer?" McGee exclaimed genuinely fearing for his life.

"Duh that's why I asked" Gibbs answered sarcastically and pointed at the door. McGee gave Abby a hug and quickly rushed out of the room.

Gibbs then turned his attention to Abby and said "Abby…."

Abby cut Gibbs off by saying "go find Kate"

Gibbs nodded and watched as Abby like McGee rushed out of the room. Gibbs turned to look at Tony who was lying back with his hands behind his head with a huge grin on his face.

"What are you smiling about?" Gibbs snapped not at all finding the situation funny.

"Well it's just to bad that I'm stuck in this bed and McGee and Abby have to go clean up my mess" Tony replied still grinning.

"Good one for getting shot DiNozzo" Gibbs said.

"Yep," Tony mumbles but loud enough so Gibbs could hear "I planned the whole thing"

Gibbs couldn't help but smile, after all Tony had this uncanny way of being able to put a funny or humorous spin on any situation. most of the time it was quite annoying to him and the rest of the team but sometimes he was actually funny. 'I guess this was one of those times' Gibbs thought to himself as he sat down in the chair next to Tony's bed waiting for McGee and Abby to return with Ziva and Kate.

* * *

Abby searched high and low, looking for Kate and hoped that McGee was having better luck than she was. Abby had already searched floors 1 through 6 but still had another 4 to go. Once Abby reached the elevator that would take her to the 7th floor, she paused and began thinking. If she were Kate, where would she go? Suddenly an idea came into her head and she ran into the elevator and pressed the button to go to the 4th floor. Once the elevator reached its destination, Abby ran down the corridor and towards the recovery rooms.

* * *

McGee on the other hand was having a little more luck than Abby was. It only took him 20 minutes of searching to find Ziva sitting in the hospital garden, fiddling with something in her hands. Upon closer inspection, McGee could see that Ziva was playing with a kitchen knife in her fingers. This made McGee a little more unsettled than he was before and closely edged towards the trained killer. 

"uh Ziva?" McGee said slowly and carefully "can I sit down?"

"only if you're not coming here to give me '_the talk_'" Ziva said, emphasizing 'the talk' by finger motions in the air.

"uh…no" McGee said, fearing for his life "why would I do that?"

"because you're all on _her_ side" Ziva said coldly.

"who…Kate?" McGee asked.

"uh duh who else would I be talking about" Ziva said, annoyed that McGee was acting so naïve.

"oh," McGee said quietly. He had no idea how he was supposed to get Ziva back in Tony's room if he wasn't allowed to talk about Kate at all. "umm," he started thinking out loud "Tony wants to see you" he lied. Well it was only partly a lie because Tony didn't exactly _want_ to see her but he did want her in the room so she could work things out with Kate.

"sure he does" Ziva said sarcastically, twirling the knife on her finger, which was making McGee nervous.

"he really does" McGee lied "he sent me here because he……wants to…….apologize" and he bit his lip waiting for Ziva's response.

Ziva turned to McGee, surprised. "really?" she said, eyeing him off, trying to see if he was lying.

"uh sure" McGee said, sweat starting to form on his forehead "he's really sorry for throwing the cup at you and wants to apologize"

Ziva smiled "oh poor innocent McGee. You couldn't lie to save your life" she said "Tony doesn't want to say he's sorry. He just wants me in the same room as Kate so we can try and make up like civilized adults" she said bluntly and turned back to her knife.

McGee shook his head in frustration. "so you're not coming" he asked.

"no" Ziva said frankly and started to chip off splinters of bark off the chair she was sitting on with the knife.

Suddenly something in McGee had snapped. He'd had enough of playing the junior agent who nobody listens to and decided to take matters into his own hands, no matter the consequences.

"NO" McGee said standing up straight and tall "you are coming with me NOW!" and with that McGee grabbed Ziva hand and began dragging her towards the hospital doors. Ziva, too surprised at McGee sudden outburst of confidence, didn't think to resist and allowed herself to be dragged all the way to Tony's room and practically thrown inside.

Tony, Gibbs and Abby just stood there surprised at McGee throwing Ziva into the room. Ziva stood there, still trying to gather herself from the sudden turn of events and looked around the room but Kate wasn't there.

"so where is she then?" Ziva asked coldly, folding her arms.

"as I was saying Gibbs" Abby said turning her attention from Ziva back to Gibbs "I can't seem to find her anywhere"

"so why are you here?" Gibbs asked Abby "you said that you had an idea where she'd be"

"well I did" Abby said defending herself "I asked myself if I was Kate where would I be"

"and…" Gibbs said questionably, trying to speed Abby's answer up.

"and I thought that she'd be here considering Tony's here and all…but I guess I was wrong" Abby said, lowering her voice into a saddening tone and lowering her head.

"gee did you work that out all by your self Abby" Gibbs said frustrated that that was Abby's master plan.

"hey be nice Gibbs" McGee said, continuing his sudden streak of confidence and defending Abby "she's trying"

Gibbs looked at McGee and had the urge to slap him on the back of the head but refrained himself because he was proud that McGee had finally grown a back bone.

"sorry Abby" he apologized "did you search the whole hospital? Even the roof?"

"not yet" Abby said "but I can keep going if you want?"

"there's no point" Tony said, speaking up.

"why not DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.

"because she won't be there" Tony said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"oh really Sherlock, then where would she be?" Gibbs said, a little annoyed.

"Have you tried the place she hasn't been in two years?" Tony asked.

"Where's that Tony?" Abby asked.

"Her _home_" Tony said as if it was obvious.

Gibbs slapped his hand on the front of his face and thought how he could have been so stupid and not have thought of that before. If his team wasn't in the room Gibbs would have slapped himself on the back of the head.

"McGee with me" Gibbs said and started to walk out of the room.

"Uh where are we going Boss?" McGee asked as he started to follow Gibbs out.

"To Kate's house" Gibbs replied and Tony watched as him and McGee walked out of the room and down the hall.

* * *

**Now we were careful not to end with another cliffhanger because my friend and I have now reached our final exams, so it might take a week or so for the next chapter to be posted. We are sorry if it takes longer than that but we'll be busy studing but we'll write when we can. Stay posted and keep reading!**


	42. Chapter 42: Kate's decision

"Ok we're nearing her house now" McGee said looking at his laptop which had Kate's old file "just turn left here and it should be the 4th house on your right"

Gibbs, following McGee's directions, turned the next left and entered a really nice looking street that looked like a picture out of a house and garden magazine.

"Whow what a nice neighbourhood" McGee exclaimed "Kate really knows how to live"

Gibbs just shook his head and he pulled into the drive way of a large two story house which looked as though it had been built new and the garden had been professionally done.

"This is a really nice house Boss" McGee said as he took in the view around him.

"The outside can be deceiving McGee" Gibbs replied and put the car into park.

McGee followed Gibbs as he stepped out of the car and walked up to the door of Kate's house, they knew someone was home because only one of the two doors was shut and you could see into the living room. Gibbs looked around and saw a range of nice furniture; Kate had some genuine leather couches and a very detailed chandelier hanging from the roof.

"I think the outside did it justice" McGee whispered so only Gibbs could hear him.

Gibbs gave McGee an evil look before bringing his hand up and pressing the doorbell. Both men were disappointed when Kate didn't answer but his didn't last long as after a couple of seconds Gibbs heard small footsteps heading towards them. McGee gave a look of recognition when he saw Kate's dog Tony come bounding up to the door with his tail wagging.

"Aw it's Tony" McGee exclaimed and bent down at the door. McGee placed his finger on the screen and said "Hi Tony". McGee jumped back startled when Tony snapped at the screen and started barking at him. After a look from Gibbs McGee got to his feet, brushed himself off and stated "It's just been a while"

Gibbs smiled and bent down as McGee had done before and placed his finger on the screen. Tony went mad as his tail started wagging at a million miles an hour and he ferociously licked the screen trying to get to Gibbs.

"He's never met me" Gibbs said as he stood up again.

McGee folded his arms and replied coldly "I don't think she's here".

Gibbs once again rang the doorbell and continued to press the button until Kate had finally relented and come to the door.

"Go Away" Kate snapped and walked away.

McGee had better things to do than muck around with Kate so before Gibbs had a chance to do it again McGee lent across and pressed the button ringing Kate's doorbell again.

Kate came storming out of the living room and stood in front of the door.

"What do you want?" she said loudly hoping that if she talked to them they would go away.

"We want you to come back to the hospital" Gibbs replied.

"Is Ziva still there?" Kate asked knowing what the answer would already be.

"No" McGee piped up hoping the right answer would get them out of there faster.

"You're a really bad liar McGee' Kate answered and picked up Tony who was still trying to get to Gibbs through the door.

"Please come Kate" Gibbs pleaded not wanting this tension with in his team.

"Not while she's there" Kate said and slammed the door in Gibbs face before walking back to the living room with Tony in her hands.

Gibbs turned to McGee and he could straight away see where this was going.

"I'll go see if there's a window open" McGee sighed and walked through the gate that led to Kate's backyard. Gibbs smiled and pulled a lock pick out of his pocket thinking that McGee really didn't know him that well.

* * *

"I thought you said they wouldn't be long" Ziva whined as she paced the room for about the millionth time. 

"They won't be" Abby replied chasing after Ziva and trying to make sure she didn't leave again.

Tony was sick of Ziva's whinging and decided to say something.

"They wouldn't even have to find her if you had of kept your mouth shut" Tony snapped causing Ziva to turn to face him.

"Oh so this is my fault?" Ziva replied not believing that Tony had just said that.

"Well yeah," Tony replied matter-of-factly "it is"

Ziva folded her arms and turned away from Tony pouting and decided that if Kate wasn't there soon she was going to leave even if it required tying Abby to a chair.

* * *

Gibbs had just heard the click of the lock when McGee came back holding his hand which was bright red. 

"Nothing Boss" McGee said as he approached Gibbs.

"What happened to your hand?" Gibbs asked quickly hiding his lock pick.

"Well I did find one open window" McGee answered shaking his hand which had started returning to its normal colour.

"And?" Gibbs asked.

"Kate shut it quickly while my hand was still there" McGee replied clenching and unclenching his hand.

Gibbs laughed to himself. "It's not funny Gibbs" McGee whined "this is not the first time I've been hurt in the past month"

This only caused Gibbs to laugh all over again when he began to think of all the times in the past month that McGee needed medical treatment for something or another. There was the cut from the building exploding, Abby hitting him in the nose after Tony had elbowed him there, then the incident at the hospital when Tony pushed him down the stairs and broke his ankle and now Kate had forcefully shut McGee's fingers in the window.

"well how are we going to get Kate to the hospital if she won't let us in?" McGee asked.

"like this" Gibbs said and opened her door.

McGee stood there surprised "you picked her lock!" he exclaimed "if she wasn't angry at you before, she will be now"

"meh" Gibbs said and walked inside, with McGee remaining outside. Gibbs turned to his junior agent.

"are you coming in?" he asked.

McGee shook his head quickly "I'd rather keep all my body parts exactly where they are thank you" he said.

"suit your self" Gibbs shrugged and walked into Kate's lounge room. He was surprised how clean it was. Photos of the team were lined up above the fireplace, flowers placed neatly on almost every table and probably the most beautiful rug lay on the floor underneath a glass coffee table.

"nice house" Gibbs mumbled to himself and suddenly felt a rough tongue licking his hand. Gibbs turned to face the chair next to him and there stood Tony, quite happy with herself.

"Tony?" Kate called and walked into the living room "GIBBS!" she cried "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

"looking" he said casually.

Kate sighed annoyingly and looked towards the door. "you might as well come in McGee" she pouted and pointed at Gibbs "it doesn't look like _he's_ going anywhere" and walked away.

McGee cautiously made his way into Kate's living room. But the moment he took one step in the actual room, Tony started barking madly. McGee took two steps back and Tony stopped. McGee stepped forward again and Tony went off again.

"stop it McGee" Gibbs said, getting annoyed at Tony's high pitched barking.

McGee nodded and went into the kitchen to see if he could find Kate, trying his best to avoid the quick tempered dog.

* * *

Ziva impatiently tapped her foot on the floor. Gibbs and McGee were taking ages and she really didn't want to stay in the room with an angry Tony for much longer. 

Tony, also really didn't want her in the room. Abby seemed to be the only person who wasn't feeling the tension in the room because she was smiling and humming the theme song to 'if you're happy and you know it'.

Tony rolled over in bed and looked out the window. Outside was so sunny and bright and Tony would have given anything to be out there rather than trapped in a room with Ziva plotting Kate's murder.

* * *

McGee slowly made his way into the kitchen and stopped suddenly when he saw Kate at the counter making something. 

'maybe she's going to poison us' McGee thought to himself and remained where he was.

"you can come in McGee" Kate said casually as she stirred two mugs.

McGee slowly made his way into the kitchen and joined Kate at the counter.

"here" she said and handed him a mug. McGee eyed it off cautiously before slowly taking it.

"don't worry McGee I haven't poisoned it" she laughed and took a sip of hers.

"where's Gibbs's?" McGee asked, as he too took a sip.

"he's not getting my coffee" Kate said sort of coldly.

"then why am I getting some?" McGee asked so innocently.

Kate laughed "because you have manners" she said and turned around so her back was leaning against the bench "because you waited outside my house before coming in and you haven't done anything wrong"

"what has Gibbs done wrong?" McGee asked but quickly added "besides breaking into your house"

"he hired Ziva" Kate said, and this time it was done coldly and she took another sip of her coffee.

"uh huh" McGee agreed "you do realise that the director assigned her to our team. It wasn't Gibbs"  
Kate stopped drinking her coffee "are you sticking up for Gibbs?" she asked, daring him to say yes.

"uh…no" McGee said quickly "just stating the facts" and took a few steps to the left so he was out of reach of Kate hitting him or her taking his coffee back.

McGee looked around Kate's house a noticed a couple suitcases in the corner.

"Umm were you going somewhere?" McGee asked curiously not wanting to sound nosy.

"I was going to go stay with Sasha in Miami for a while and see Logan while I'm there too" Kate replied casually "I haven't seen them in a while and I thought we could catch up"

"That sounds nice Kate," McGee exclaimed "but I'm pretty sure Tony will miss you"

"Yeah I know" Kate replied and placed her coffee on the table beside her.

"At least you'll get a lot of attention when you come back though" McGee stated picturing Tony waiting on Kate and not wanting her to go anywhere.

"Actually McGee," Kate sighed and looked at the floor "I might not be coming back"


	43. Chapter 43: Ziva snaps

Kate continued to look at the ground. "WHAT!" McGee exclaimed in surprise "you might not be coming back!"

"Well it might be better this way" Kate said, remaining to look at the ground and avoid eye contact with McGee.

"How would it be better?" McGee asked.

Kate looked up and faced McGee "because" she said "because then I don't have to worry about Ziva or trying to get my job back at NCIS or…" Kate paused for a second and looked deep into McGee's eyes "and Tony can finally move on with his life"

"What do you mean?" McGee asked.

"McGee it's my fault he got shot ok" Kate blurted out and spun around and bent over the sink.

"What?" McGee said in confusion "what are you talking about?"

"It's my fault he got shot" Kate said, a single tear falling down her cheek and into the sink.

"No its not" McGee said placing a comforting hand on her shoulder "you did nothing wrong"

Kate shook her head slowly "yes I did" she said quietly "if I wasn't so selfish then innocent people wouldn't have died and Tony wouldn't be in hospital" and she slowly moved away from the sink.

"Selfish?" McGee repeated confused "how are you selfish?"

"because" Kate said turning around facing McGee "if I hadn't left my necklace at the crime scene of that petty officer a month ago, then you wouldn't know I was still alive and none of this would have happened"

McGee stopped talking for a second. He knew exactly where Kate was coming from but even then he didn't blame her for anything.

"Kate," McGee said in sort of a whiny/ frustrated voice "don't leave. What will Tony do?"

Kate stopped and shrugged her shoulders, her back still facing McGee "I don't know" she said "move on. I'm sure Ziva will be happy to fill in" and she walked away. McGee stood there for a moment and tried to figure out what Kate had said. When he came up with nothing he quickly ran after Kate and followed her into her bedroom.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Oh McGee" Kate sighed, sitting down heavily on her bed "it's obvious that Ziva likes Tony"

"It is?" McGee said, again naïve to the whole situation.

"Yeah, that's why she attacked me…" and quickly added when she saw McGee's worried look "verbally McGee"

"Oh right" McGee said, nodding his head.

"and how am I supposed to enjoy being with Tony and even coming back to NCIS when I know that Ziva is going to do everything in her power to make me miserable" Kate sighed and placed her head in her hands,

McGee just stood there. Now that he thought of it, it was so obvious. Everything Ziva did for Tony, getting _really_ worried about him and then verbally attacking Kate for no reason.

Before McGee had a chance to say anything, Gibbs walked into Kate's room.

"Nice house" he simply said and looked around her room "nice room too"

"Gibbs what are you doing here?" Kate asked, slightly frustrated.

"Just lookin" Gibbs said casually with his hands in his pockets.

"Well do you think you could look somewhere else," Kate asked coldly and took the pen Gibbs had just picked up out of his hand and back on the table "this is kinda private"

"Kate how could you?" Gibbs exclaimed sarcastically "What would Tony think?"

McGee jolted around at this and stammered "No Boss…it's not…we weren't"

"Relax McGee," Kate interrupted with a smile "It's just Gibbs being his usual bastard self"

At this remark Gibbs smiled and turned to look at Kate and McGee.

"So what's going on?" Gibbs asked casually.

"Nothing' Kate replied not wanting Gibbs to know what she was planning.

"Kate's leaving" McGee blurted out hoping Gibbs would be able to convince her to stay.

Kate turned and glared at McGee before saying "dobber"

"What do you mean?" Gibbs said genuinely curious but keeping his calm demeanor.

McGee looked at Kate and gulped before replying "She wants to go live with her sister in Miami"

"Maybe it's for the best" Gibbs answered and shrugged his shoulders, he had a plan.

"What," Kate exclaimed not believing what she was hearing "You can't possibly mean that"

"Sure I can," Gibbs said again casually and went and sat on Kate's bed "I mean if you'd rather run away then face your problems then it's probably a good thing that you're leaving"

Kate stood gob smacked she couldn't believe that Gibbs would actually let her leave. McGee looked equally shocked and came around and stood in front of Gibbs.

"You're joking," McGee exclaimed giving Gibbs a shocked look "You would seriously just let her leave"

"Yep" Gibbs replied.

"Why?" McGee asked not believing that Gibbs would just let the woman he considered a daughter to just leave.

"Because," Gibbs explained "I don't want someone who runs away from their problems on my team and I'm sure DiNozzo will be better off without that to"

Kate couldn't stand it any more, Gibbs was been completely unreasonable and she wasn't going to stand there and take it.

"I'm not running away," Kate said loudly "there's no point in being here Gibbs, I mean I don't even have a job all my family is somewhere else and you're right Tony probably is better off without me"

"Well you did get him shot" Gibbs added.

"I did not," Kate replied not even realizing what she had said "Ari shot him there was nothing I could have done to stop that"

Gibbs gave a small smirk and Kate couldn't help but smile as well as she realized what he had just done.

"You can be a real arse sometimes Gibbs" Kate said with a smirk on her face.

"I know" Gibbs replied while McGee stood with a blank look on his face not quite understanding what had just happened.

The mood suddenly went very somber again and Kate looked at the ground.

"I still have to leave" Kate sighed.

Gibbs got up off the bed and walked over to Kate he had been hoping his little tactic had convinced her not to leave.

"Why Kate?" Gibbs asked been completely genuine this time.

"Because," Kate replied tears starting to swell up in her eyes "I may not have gotten him shot but everything else has been my fault"

"No it's not" Gibbs said sympathetically and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Yes it is," Kate sobbed and pulled away from Gibbs "If I hadn't of been such a sarcastic bitch to Ari he wouldn't have taken it out on you and I wouldn't have caused you and Tony all this pain…"

"And none of us would be alive" Gibbs interrupted hoping Kate would see sense, after all he didn't blame her for anything.

"What do you mean?" Kate asked wondering how her meddling could have possibly helped.

"Well think about it Kate," Gibbs explained "If you hadn't of interrupted Ari when he was taking pot shots at us both DiNozzo and your brother would be dead and if you hadn't of warned us about that warehouse the rest of us would be dead as well"

Kate fells silent and thought about what Gibbs had said she knew it was true but she just had to blame someone for everything that had happened and unfortunately she blamed herself, it was then that Kate remembered Ziva.

"Maybe I regret warning you now" Kate said coldly folding her arms.

"Oh and why would that be?" Gibbs replied sounding insulted.

"Because if I hadn't of at least Ziva wouldn't be around" Kate answered but not actually meaning a word of what she said.

"You mean you would sacrifice us just to get rid of Ziva" McGee exclaimed causing Kate and Gibbs to turn and look at him, they had completely forgotten he was even there. Kate gave McGee a sympathetic smile and shrugged her shoulders.

"Speaking of Ziva," Gibbs said "you're going to the hospital and we are going to sort this out"

"No way," Kate exclaimed once again folding her arms "I'm not going anywhere where she is"

Gibbs gave an exasperated sigh and stood in front of Kate.

"Maybe not but if you're leaving you need to talk to DiNozzo" Gibbs said smugly and grabbed Kate's arm and started to drag her out of the room and towards the car. Kate knew Gibbs was right and allowed herself to be dragged away but she still pouted and complained all the way to the hospital.

* * *

Ziva sat in Tony's hospital room tapping her foot.

"They have one more minute and then I'm leaving" Ziva stated and got up off the chair to get ready to leave. Ziva was about to start tapping her foot again when Gibbs and McGee entered with a pouting Kate behind them.

"Finally" Ziva sighed and sat down again. Kate glared at Ziva as she entered the room; she really didn't want to be there while Ziva was there especially since what she had to talk to Tony about was really bad.

Gibbs noticed Ziva and Kate staring at each other and quickly pushed Kate inside the room and past Ziva.

"Kate," Tony said cheerfully from his bed and Kate noticed he looked a lot better since the last time she saw him "I thought you'd abandoned me"

"No never" Kate replied with a hint of sadness in her voice which she hoped Tony didn't pick up on she didn't want to discuss her leaving with an audience.

Tony cocked his head he could tell something wasn't right but whatever it was he was sure that Kate would tell him once they were alone.

Out of the corner of her eye Kate could see Ziva rolling her eyes and turning away in disgust so Kate decided to rub the fact that she had Tony in her face. Kate looked over at Ziva before walking straight up to Tony's bed and placing a soft passionate kiss on his lips. When they broke apart Kate looked over and saw Ziva glaring at them. Kate smiled at Ziva and poked her tongue out. Gibbs saw this and shook his head in disbelief, he felt like a high school principal.

"Wow Kate that was unexpected," Tony said "not that I mind"

Kate gave a small smirk and hit Tony on the arm playfully once again teasing Ziva.

Ziva, watching Kate, suddenly saw flames and grabbed the knife that she had kept in her pocket from before and lunged at Kate, with only one thing on her mind.


	44. Chapter 44: The Todd family returns

"Ziva!" Gibbs yelled.

Ziva snapped out of it and looked around the room. Kate was only just pulling away from her kiss with Tony and McGee, Abby and Gibbs were still at the doorway. Ziva felt down into her pocket and felt the knife that she took from the kitchen still there.

'It was a daydream' Ziva thought to herself 'it never really happened'

"Ziva!" Gibbs yelled again.

Ziva turned to Gibbs "what?" she said.

"I said we are not leaving this room until you and Kate sort this all out" Gibbs said, repeating what he had said previously.

"You can't make me stay here Gibbs" Ziva said, folding her arms.

"Yes I can" Gibbs said, and folded his arms too "while you work for me you will do as I say"

"Then I don't have to stay" Kate said simply "because I don't work for you anymore"

"You will stay here simply because I said so" Gibbs informed her "and as a federal agent you have to do as I say or else"

"Or else what?" Kate said sarcastically with a smile, glaring at Gibbs.

"Or else…" Gibbs said and paused "ok I don't have an or else but I'm sure when I come up with one, you'll be shaking" he added with a smile.

Kate smiled back and then turned to Tony. She was no longer angry at Gibbs and all she wanted to do now was spend some quality time with Tony before she left for Miami.

Ziva rolled her eyes and shook her head. This sappy friendship stuff between Gibbs and Kate was making her sick.

"Can we hurry up with this whole making up thing before I die of boredom?" Ziva said rather rudely.

Suddenly the smile from Gibbs's face disappeared and everything became serious again.

"Ok" he said, straightening up "Kate apologize to Ziva"

Kate was shocked "what for?" she shrieked "she started it. I did nothing"

"Oh sure you did" Ziva snapped "you never do anything. You're innocent little Caitlin"

"Call me Caitlin again and I'll make wish you had never met me" Kate threatened.

"I already do" Ziva said, egging Kate on.

"SILENCE!" Gibbs yelled "no one is doing anything to anyone" Gibbs stopped talking for a moment and took a deep breath. This was going now where fast.

"Ok" he finally said "if you two can't work out your differences then neither of you will work for me"

Kate and Ziva, as well and McGee, Abby and Tony stood there shocked at what Gibbs said.

"But Gibbs," Ziva whined and pointed at Kate "why should I be punished for her actions"

"Oh my actions, what about yours" Kate snapped back.

"SHUT UP!" Gibbs yelled and this time Kate and Ziva both looked to the floor. Gibbs was really getting angry and they didn't want to see how far Gibbs would go.

"Now" Gibbs said staring down at both of them "Ziva, Kate. There isn't a law that states that everyone must get along but I will not have you biting each others head off every time one of you speaks" Kate and Ziva nodded and Gibbs continued "so from now on when ever either of you speaks you will think about what you're going to say BEFORE you say it. You will not jump down the others throat every time they have something to say and you will not try and bait the other person so you have an excuse to do so. Understand?"

Kate and Ziva remained looking at the floor but nodded their head in agreement.

Gibbs smiled and sighed. Finally they were getting somewhere. "Ok" Gibbs said, finishing up his long speech "shake hands and say something nice to each other about how much your going to enjoy being together and we can drop it there"

Kate and Ziva both paused for a moment thinking 'is he seriously making us to this' but moved closer to each other and shook hands.

"Remember something nice" Gibbs said reminding them.

Ziva tilted her head slightly and smiled, taking Kate's hand and shaking it "I will enjoy making your life a living hell" Ziva said smugly low enough that only Kate could hear.

Kate returned the hand shake and said in the same tone and volume "I'm going to enjoy rubbing in your face what a lovely life I have with Tony"

Ziva started to squeeze Kate's hand out of anger, which Kate only to happily returned until their hands were turning a deep purple.

Abby could see what they were doing and looked at Gibbs surprised that he hadn't noticed yet.

"Ok I think that's enough" Abby said speaking up "how about we go get some lunch or something"

"Abby it's dinner time" McGee said correcting her.

"I did say 'or something' McGee" Abby said, poking her tongue out at him.

"Gladly" Ziva said, letting go of Kate's hand and walking out.

Gibbs watched and made sure that Ziva was actually leaving and not just waiting till she could be alone with Kate. Once Ziva was gone Gibbs turned to the rest of his team and said "McGee, Abby let's go grab some lunch"

McGee looked from Gibbs to Tony before replying "but Boss we were bonding"

Kate stood listening she knew what Gibbs was trying to do and she knew exactly why he was trying to do it, she had to talk to Tony. Tony watched what was going on and he knew that something wasn't right especially since Gibbs was trying to leave him and Kate alone.

"McGee," Gibbs said clutching at straws "Shouldn't you take Abby out on your first date or something"

McGee looked confused but Abby caught on when Gibbs winked at her and motioned with his head at Kate and Tony.

"Yeah McGee," Abby exclaimed "You really should do that"

McGee looked even more confused and just replied "We already had lunch"

"Yeah but you have to take me out to a big romantic dinner" Abby whined.

"But I don't have a romantic bone in my body" McGee answered finding all of this extremely weird.

"You do now" Abby said rather bluntly and grabbed McGee's hand and practically dragged him out of the room.

Gibbs smiled and turned to look at Kate who mouthed "thanks" before he too left the room.

Kate took a deep breath and turned to face Tony who by now had developed a very serious look on his face.

"Ok Kate," Tony said "What going on?"

"What makes you think something is going on?" Kate asked caught off guard by Tony's question.

"Oh come on," Tony explained "You came in here looking really sad and now Gibbs has just kicked everyone out of the room except for you, so what's going on?"

Kate looked to the floor and sighed she knew Tony wasn't stupid and she should have guessed that he would have caught on to something been wrong. Kate moved closer to Tony and sat on the edge of his bed, Kate was relieved when Tony moved over to make more room for her, after all falling flat on her arse was not how she wanted to start this conversation.

"Tony I have to tell you something" Kate sighed and placed her hand over Tony's.

"What is it?" Tony asked not liking the tone in Kate's voice.

"Umm I was thinking of going and seeing my sister in Miami" Kate replied.

"That's great Kate," Tony exclaimed "She's probably missing you like crazy and once you get back I'll be out of here and we can spend time together that doesn't involve hospitals"

"That's the thing Tony," Kate answered "I don't think I'm coming back"

Tony lay shocked at what Kate had just told him, they had only just gotten together and now she was telling him that she was leaving.

"What?" Tony exclaimed "What do you mean?"

"There's nothing for me here anymore Tony" Kate replied realizing her mistake as soon as she said it.

"Oh so I'm nothing" Tony said coldly feeling really insulted.

"No Tony that's not what I meant" Kate answered trying to defend what she had said.

"Then what did you mean?" Tony asked still remaining cold.

"I meant that everything I had here before is gone the only thing keeping me here is you, everything else has gone" Kate answered feeling tears starting to swell up in her eyes.

"Then stay," Tony said and gripped Kate's hand "Stay for us"

Kate was so surprised she pulled away from Tony, they had never really discussed if there was an 'us' before.

"Did I say something wrong?" Tony asked confused as to why Kate had pulled away from him.

"No of course not," Kate replied "You just surprised me"

"How?" Tony said

"Well we've never really discussed whether us kissing mean we're a couple" Kate explained.

"Oh right," Tony sighed looking down "I kind just assumed…."

"Yeah me too" Kate interrupted.

There was an awkward silence where neither Tony or Kate looked at each other before Ton said "So are we?"

"Umm if you want to be" Kate replied secretly hoping the answer was yes.

"Well it's official then," Tony stated cheerfully "Caitlin Todd is Anthony DiNozzo's girlfriend"

Kate smiled and remembered how much she hated the name Caitlin but decided it kinda sounded good coming from Tony.

Kate's thoughts were interrupted by Tony asking "So will you stay?"

Kate knew she couldn't possibly bring herself to leave Tony and she knew that he was too settled here to come with her, besides she never really wanted to leave anyway.

"Yeah Tony," Kate sighed "I'll stay"

Tony smiled and pulled Kate towards him gently; Kate leant closer to Tony and let him kiss her before she kissed him back.

While all this was going on Gibbs was looking through the window smiling, he knew if anyone could convince Kate to stay it would be Tony.

Suddenly, Gibbs turned to his left and saw Kate's whole family walking very fast down the hallway. Gibbs shook his head. He had completely forgotten about the fact that Kate had a family that had thought she was dead. Then the thought hit him. He had never rung them to tell them Kate was free from Ari.

"AGENT GIBBS!" Kate's mother called from down the hallway as they made their way towards him "WHERE IS SHE? WHERE'S MY DAUGHTER? IS SHE OK?"

"Mrs. Todd, calm down" Gibbs said, raising his hands in defense "she's fine"

"then why didn't you tell us she was free from that psychopath?" Mrs. Todd asked out of concern.

"I was waiting" Gibbs said.

"waiting for what?" Mr. Todd said, speaking up.

"to make sure this was all over" Gibbs said, which wasn't exactly a lie "I know its been a week since we saved her but I wanted to make sure that nothing could hurt her again before I told you"

"SHE'S BEEN BACK A WEEK!" Sasha shrieked "and you never said anything!"

"Sasha drop it" Michael said, coming to Gibbs defense "he was just doing his job" and then Michael turned to Gibbs "can we see her?"

Gibbs shook his head "not at the moment"

At this statement, Mrs. Todd was in hysterics "what's wrong with her?" she cried.

"Nothing" Gibbs said trying to reassure her "she absolutely fine"

"then why can't we go and see her?" Logan asked from behind his mother.

"she's uh busy" Gibbs said, trying to get them to drop the topic.

"doing what?" Brandon said, the only one not to say anything yet.

"look" Gibbs said "she's with Tony and I think we should really give them some time together. Not a long time just a little bit ok"

"no I want to see my daughter now!" Mrs. Todd snapped and barged past Gibbs and into Tony's room, followed by the rest of her family. Gibbs shut his eyes and prayed that this was all going to end well because he had no idea what will happen when Mrs. Todd finds out about Kate and Tony.


	45. Chapter 45: BUSTED!

Back inside the hospital room Tony and Kate were still locked in an embrace as it was getting even more passionate by the second. Kate had completely succumbed to Tony and she could feel his passion as his lips kissed hers. Kate fell forwards on top of Tony while still keeping her sitting position on the bed. Kate felt goose bumps develop all over her body as Tony's mouth moved from her mouth to her neck. Kate tilted her head to the side and allowed Tony to kiss her neck passionately.

Tony broke away for a second and pulled the hospital shirt he was wearing off over his head and threw it on the floor. He then grabbed Kate and pulled her into another passionate embrace. Kate let out a gasp as Tony's fingers came up and started to unbutton her shirt. Kate moved closer to Tony to make this easier and started to undo the tie to his pants still passionately kissing each other.

Kate felt a shiver go up her spine and stopped momentarily when she felt Tony's hand slide up her back and started to fiddle with the clasp to her bra trying to get it undone.

"CAITLIN WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING"

Kate and Tony instantly pulled away from each other and turned to the doorway. Kate turned bright red when she saw her entire family standing there and she hastily grabbed the ends of her shirt and pulled it around her chest trying to cover her half naked body. Tony gave a small smirk and tried to hide how embarrassed he was before reaching down and quickly tying the ties to his pants up.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE WHAT YOU ARE DOING!" Mrs. Todd continued to yell. Michael, Brandon, Logan, Sasha and Kate's dad had all turned away in embarrassment and Gibbs had just stood there with his eyes closed. He was trying to get the image out of his head. Kate quickly did up her shirt and got off Tony's bed.

"Mum, dad…siblings what are you doing _here_!" she said, wishing that she could be anywhere else but there.  
"We came to see our daughter considering she was saved from the terrorist" Kate's dad said, still facing away.

"Oh right" Kate said, biting her lip. Of all the things that her family could have seen her do, this was not the best one.

Kate sighed and turned back to Tony, who by now was a red as a tomato and covering his naked chest with his sheet.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WERE DOING _THAT_!" Kate's mother continued to yell completely ignoring that there were other people in the room. Kate's mother paused for a moment and was lost for words. None of her children had partners and this was the last thing she wanted to see her youngest daughter doing. The impression of an innocent daughter was replaced by one of a grown woman passionately kissing another man.

Kate's mother shook her head and walked out of the room, quickly followed by her husband. Kate sighed and looked at the shocked faces of the rest of her family. Michael, Logan and Brendan were speechless and quickly turned and followed their mother. The last thing they wanted to see was their sister about to make love to her boyfriend. Sasha on the other hand, remained where she was.  
"Aren't you going run and vomit?" Kate sighed and looked at the floor.

Sasha shrugged her shoulders "nah I've seen it before"

"Seen what?" Kate asked in shock. This was the first time she had seen her in two years and the first time she and Tony had even kissed. How could she have seen it before?

"People making out" Sasha said "I do it all the time with my boyfriend" she added with a giggle.

"You have a boyfriend!" Kate exclaimed surprised "and mum doesn't know?"

"Yeah sure I do and so do Logan and Brendan…."

"They have boyfriends" Kate exclaimed not believing that she hadn't worked it out.

"No No girlfriends" Sasha replied "Michael's the only one who doesn't. We don't tell mum everything Kate" and added "you saw how she reacted with you. She thinks we'll be virgins forever and not get married and have kids. I've been with Nick for almost three years now and she still doesn't know"

"You never told me!" Kate said, surprised that Sasha kept that from her.

"Maybe that had something to do with the fact that you were meant to be dead for most of that time" Sasha replied sarcastically.

Kate suddenly was aware that Tony and Gibbs were still in the room and grabbed Sasha's arm.

"Can I speak to you outside please" Kate whispered. Sasha looked up and noticed that Gibbs and Tony were looking at them with a weird look on both their faces.

"You didn't hear that" Sasha said to Gibbs and Tony as Kate dragged her out of the room.

Tony and Gibbs watched as Sasha and Kate left the room, Tony turned away just in time to see Gibbs looking at him.

"Hey Boss" Tony said meekly and tried to hide under his sheets more than he already was.

"Hey DiNozzo" Gibbs replied smugly trying to stifle his laughter.

"How much did you see?" Tony asked seriously hoping that Gibbs had entered after the whole Kate's family fiasco.

"Enough" Gibbs answered bluntly staying where he was.

Tony looked down at the ground and where the top of his hospital gown was still laying before saying "let me guess, a slap on the head"

"I think you slapped yourself on the head DiNozzo" Gibbs said still trying to keep a straight face.

Tony glared at Gibbs and replied "Not helping"

"Well at least you don't have to worry about meeting the family" Gibbs said sarcastically and smiled.

"Still not helping" Tony said getting annoyed that Gibbs found this so funny.

"Oh get over it DiNozzo, they will" Gibbs replied.

Tony fell silent and really hoped that Gibbs was right.

"Geez you couldn't get away fast enough could you?" Sasha said as her and Kate came to a stop outside Tony's room.

"Sasha this isn't funny," Kate replied "What am I going to do; mum is never going to speak to me again"

"I wouldn't say never" Sasha answered trying to lift Kate's spirits but doing a very bad job.

"You saw what happened," Kate exclaimed "She was disgusted, she couldn't even look at me, I haven't seen her look like that since she found out what Michael was really doing behind the shed at school"

"I remember that," Sasha laughed "he couldn't sit down for a week and dad followed him everywhere for months to make sure he was telling the truth when he said he wouldn't do it again"

Kate giggled a little she too remembered when that had happened even though she was young and she had never let Michael forget it.

"Michael is never going to let me forget this" Kate sighed and hit her head with her hand.

"You got that right" Michael confirmed causing Sasha and Kate to turn and see Michael walking down the hall towards them.

"You've really done it this time Katie," Michael said as he came to a stop in front of Sasha and Kate "mum hasn't stopped saying how disgusted she is all the way to the car"

Kate looked to the ground sadly she knew that her mum would never look at her the same again. Sasha glared at Michael before grabbing Kate's arm and saying "Kate it'll be ok, you've always been the favourite, mum's little angel, Kate who can do no wrong…"

"Not anymore" Michael smirked.

"Shut up Michael" Sasha snapped.

"Where are you going with this?" Kate asked thinking that Sasha's speech was really not doing anything.

"The point is," Sasha replied "is that mum loves you and even though she may be disappointed and shocked now she will forgive you"

Kate sighed she knew Sasha was right but she just couldn't deal with he parents being disappointed with her, she'd rather they yell or scream or something. That would be so much easier.

"That's a little sappy don't you think?" Michael said, pulling a face.

Sasha playfully hit Michael and turned back to Kate "understand?" she asked.

"I doubt I was her favourite" Kate said defensively.

"Yeah you are" Sasha said, surprised that Kate had missed it "you were her favourite by far. You were the one who finished school as dux, you always got straight A's and never got into trouble, you went straight into university instead of taking a year off and you studied law instead of something like hairdressing. You then went to work for the secret service of all things and ended up protecting the president! Mum was so proud that her favourite daughter was doing something as important as presidential detail. She told everyone who asked how her family was!"

Kate just stood there and realised what Sasha was saying was right and she couldn't believe that she had missed it.

"Yeah but now she can't even look at me" Kate complained "I went from the favourite to……up for adoption"

"Have you been listening to a thing that I've been saying?" Sasha whined "she'll forgive you. Give her time. You've never done anything wrong in her eyes and she'll get over this too"

Kate nodded and sighed and felt Michael's hand upon her shoulder. "Yes" she said sheepishly.

"There, there. I know a nice family that would be willing to make you a home in their garage" he said with a smile.

Kate glared at him and punched him in the shoulder. "Oww!" He cried "that hurt.

"It was meant to" Kate said and turned to look down the hallway and shuttered when she saw her mother walking towards them, not looking happy.


	46. Chapter 46: A blast from the past

Kate held her breath as her mother came up to her, Sasha and Michael and stopped.

"Hi mum" she said cautiously with a small wave of her hand but her mother just ignored her.

"Michael, Sasha please come with me. We are leaving" she said coldly, not looking at Kate and walking away.

"Aren't you going to say something to Kate mum?" Sasha asked, calling after her mother.

Mrs. Todd stopped for a second, paused and continued on her way "NOW!" she said and disappeared down the hallway.

Kate sighed and looked at her brother and sister, who both looked unhappy.

"We better go" Sasha said "she is our ride home"

"Yeah" Michael agreed "no point in having her mad at all of us" and they began to walk away but Michael stopped for a quick second and turned around and said "you do know that we're always here for you, don't you?"

Kate smiled and nodded and waved them a goodbye and walked back towards Tony's room.

* * *

Abby sat at the table facing McGee. This was their first official date since they got together and so far it wasn't going well. Since they had ordered dinner, McGee was wondering how Ziva was and Abby was busy trying to think of ways Kate could get back at her. Not exactly a romantic dinner they had planned.

"Do you think Ziva's alright?" McGee asked for the millionth time "she seemed really hurt"

"Ziva! What about Kate?" Abby complained "Kate came back to Ziva attacking her for no reason! She didn't deserve that!"

"Yeah but Ziva has a reason" McGee said defending Ziva.

"Oh really and what is that?" Abby snapped. This was not going well.

"Ziva likes Tony" McGee exclaimed.

"WHAT!" Abby shrieked "but Kate likes Tony!"

"And you see the problem" McGee said, pointing out the obvious.

"Well Ziva should learn that she has no place with Tony" Abby said, folding her arms.

"How do you know?" McGee said, getting defensive "maybe its Kate who doesn't have a place with him"

Abby was shocked at how McGee could say that! "How dare you say that McGee!" she said getting up from her chair and leaning in towards him "Kate and Tony are meant to be together and nothing will change that" and she left the table.

McGee threw his hands up in frustration and began eating his, by now, cold food.

* * *

"What happened?" Tony asked as Kate entered the room. Kate looked around the room and noticed Gibbs standing in the corner of the room. Kate gave Gibbs a look and to her relief he took the hint and left the room.

Kate sighed and walked over to Tony's bed and leant up against the bed.

"My mother hates me" Kate exclaimed and felt slightly comforted when Tony grabbed her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"That's a little harsh," Tony replied "she can't hate you, she's your mother"

"Maybe," Kate mumbled "but she is very disappointed"

Tony looked down at the ground he knew what it felt like to have someone disappointed at you, after all he always felt guilty when his father was disappointed in him even though he knew he had done absolutely nothing wrong. Kate saw the look on Tony's face and knew something wasn't right.

"You're thinking about your family aren't you?" Kate asked and sat down on the chair next to Tony's bed while still clutching his hand.

"Yeah," Tony said "my dad to be specific"

"Tell me about him" Kate said.

Tony had never spoken about his family to anyone before but he felt as though he could tell Kate, he knew he could trust her.

"My father was the strict type," Tony explained "he wanted me to be the best at everything and if I wasn't he made me feel bad for it, mum knew that it was but she never said anything I think she was scared he would leave her if she defied him or something"

Kate nodded and replied "having all that pressure on you would have been hard"

"It was," Tony answered "I was constantly having sleepless nights and training for sports events just to make him happy, I ended up getting sick every few weeks from being so run down, dad said I was weak"

Kate was about to say something back when she saw Tony's face go a ghostly white and she heard a noise behind her. Kate turned to see a middle aged man standing the door way, he was a little older than Gibbs and had brown hair with flecks of grey through it. Kate observed a little closer and noticed that his eyes looked very familiar.

"Umm can I help you?" Kate asked.

Before the man could answer Tony finally found his voice and exclaimed "Dad…what the hell are you doing here?"

"Can't a man visit his son after 15 years?" the man replied who Kate now knew was Antonio DiNozzo.

"It's been 17 years," Tony replied coldly "and why now, why choose now to see me?"

Antonio looked to the floor, he knew his son was right he had neglected him for years and he knew that he was wrong to assume it would have been so simple as to visit him in the hospital.

"Excuse me miss," Antonio said turning to Kate and briefly noticing her hand entwined with Tony's "would you mind leaving Anthony and I alone for a moment"

Kate nodded and started to get up but was stopped by Tony pulling her back down.

"No," Tony replied harshly "whatever you have to say to me, you can say in front of Kate"

Antonio gave Tony a harsh look which Tony recognized all too well before saying "don't disappoint me again Anthony, I asked for something and you will not defy me"

Kate saw the hatred, hurt and anger in Tony's face.

"I'm not a child," Tony yelled "I can do whatever the hell I want and if you don't like it and can't be proud of me for what I have achieved then you can just get the hell out of my room and my life"

Kate could feel Tony's grip on her hand getting tighter, she didn't really want to be in the middle of all this but at the same time she didn't want to leave Tony. Kate could feel Tony's pulse racing and see it increasing on the heart monitor.

Kate gently pulled her hand free of Tony's and stood up taking a step closer to Antonio.

"Mr. DiNozzo," Kate said "I don't mean to be rude or anything but Tony really needs to rest so maybe it would be best if you came back later"

"This is none of your business," Antonio snapped "maybe you should leave like I asked so Anthony and I can talk"

"DON'T YOU DARE SPEAK TO KATE LIKE THAT," Tony yelled and Kate could see the he wanted to get out of bed and punch his father "and it's Tony not Anthony"

"I am your father Anthony I will call you what I please" Antonio replied and Kate could see the anger in both men.

"YOU STOPPED BEING MY FATHER THE DAY I LEFT" Tony yelled yet again and rolled over blocking any further contact with is father out.

"Mr. DiNozzo please," Kate pleaded hoping to end this peacefully "he needs to rest"

"I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE ME AND MY SON ALONE!" Tony's father yelled for the third time and forcefully pushed Kate aside. As Antonio did so, Kate's leg got caught on chair beside Tony's bed and she fell heavily to the floor, hitting it with a thud.

Tony heard his father yell at Kate and rolled over just in time to see her hit the floor.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DID THAT!" he yelled and threw the sheets off his body, threw his legs over the side and began to storm over to his father but because he hadn't walked for a week and was still recovering from surgery, his legs buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor in pain.

"TONY!" Kate yelled and raced over to him hoping that he hadn't ruined his chances of ever walking again.


	47. Chapter 47: Family ties

Kate quickly crawled over to Tony and flipped him over onto his back. "Tony are you alright?" she asked, panic in her voice.

Tony groaned for a little bit and looked up at her and looked into her eyes.  
"I think I'm ok" he said and added with a sarcastic smile "floors a little hard though"

Kate shook her head and sighed "don't move" she instructed him "I'll get someone" and she got up from the floor and walked over to the wall beside Tony's bed and was about to press the button to call for help when Tony's father spoke up.

"Don't touch that" he snapped.

Kate turned around and placed her hands on her hips. She was having enough of this.

"Look Tony needs help getting off the floor" she said.

"No he doesn't" Tony's father said, folding his arms "he can get of the floor himself. He doesn't need you nurses to do it for him"

Suddenly it hit Kate. Tony's father had no idea that she and Tony were together! Kate looked down at Tony on the floor and noticed in his expression that he had just realised the same thing.

Just at that moment, Nurse Emma walked in and noticed Tony on the floor and laughed.

"nice to see your not faking it this time" she said referring back to when Tony, McGee and Gibbs had faked their way into emergency to see Abby "what are you doing there?" she giggled.

Tony saw the funny side of him lying on the floor so he told the nurse "I thought it looked more comfortable than my bed"

The nurse just shook her head and laughed and walked over to Tony and started helping him sit up.

"Why isn't that nurse helping my son up?" Tony's father barked, pointing at Kate.

Nurse Emma looked over at Kate slightly confused and turned back to Tony's father "uh maybe because she's not a nurse Sir" she answered.

"Then what the hell is she doing here then?" Tony's father demanded, keeping his arms folded.

The nurse sat Tony up and began checking him over. "Maybe because she's your son's girlfriend" she answered without taking her eyes off Tony.

Tony looked over at his father while his nurse checked him over and noticed the all too familiar look of disappointment on his face.

"I'm very disappointed in you Anthony" he said, with obvious disappointment in his voice "you could have done much better than _that_"

At hearing this, tears began to swell up in Kate's eyes. Tony and Nurse Emma looked over at her and could tell the effect of what Tony's father had said.

Kate choked back tears and turned to Tony's nurse. "Are you right with him" she asked quietly. Nurse Emma nodded sadly. "ok well I'm going…for a…walk" she said, trying desperately not to cry in front of Tony's dad "I'll be back in a little while" and she slowly and quietly exited the room.

Nurse Emma looked at Tony with a sorrowful expression and helped him back on his bed. Once she was sure that Tony was settled in, so too left the room without saying a word, leaving it to Tony to set his father straight.

* * *

McGee searched the hospital corridors high and low. After his fight with Abby he didn't feel much like eating so he left his dinner on the table and went in search for her but he had no idea where she went. He'd checked the roof, the hospital garden, he had even asked Ziva if she'd seen him but all he seemed to get out of Ziva was something about Kate must die so he decided not to ask too many questions and left it at that. He was just making his way towards Tony's room to see if Abby was there when he saw an unknown man standing in the door way. McGee had no idea who he was because he'd never seen him before but who ever he was, McGee gathered that he wasn't welcome in Tony's room because Tony was busy yelling at him.

From McGee's position in the hallway he could only make out bits and pieces of Tony's angry message.

"HOW DARE YOU……I HATE YOU……LEAVE ME ALONE……I LOVE HER" was pretty much all he could make out. Suddenly Tony started yelling so fast that McGee guessed that he either said 'I'd slit your throat' or 'drive your boat'…but considering there were no boats around he was pretty sure that it wasn't that and he was praying that he misheard the other one.

It was after another round of yelling back and forth that the unknown man stormed out of Tony's door way and towards McGee, hitting him with his shoulder as he passed.

McGee rubbed his shoulder, sighed and continued on his way towards Tony's room and poked his head through the doorway.

"Uh Tony is it safe to come in?" he asked cautiously.

"Yeah McGee, its safe" Tony sighed and placed his pillow over his head.

"You're not trying to smother yourself are you?" McGee asked out of concern.

"No McGee" Tony said from under his pillow and took it off his face "just that it seems, I don't know, better under there than it does out here"

"What do you mean?" McGee asked, completely forgetting why he was there in the first place.

"You know that guy that was just here" Tony asked, turning to McGee.

"The scary guy, sure" McGee said shrugging his shoulders.

"Yeah well he's the guy that helped create me" Tony said bluntly.

"He's your father?" McGee said shocked. He'd never met any of Tony's family before.

"No he's not my father" Tony snapped and turning back on his back to look at the ceiling.

McGee cocked his head slightly in confusion. He didn't quite understand what Tony was talking about.

"How can he…uh help create you but not be your father because I'm pretty sure that makes him your dad…unless" McGee said trying to work it all out loud.

Tony, continuing to look at the ceiling, sighed. "He's my father biologically McGee" he said "but he stopped being my father 17 years ago"

If life was a cartoon, then you would have seen a little light bulb switch on above McGee's head as he finally understood what Tony was saying.

"You know what" McGee said moving closer to Tony "I'm not even going to ask what all that was about but uh…where's Kate?"

"I thought you weren't going to ask" Tony said sarcastically, turning back to McGee.

"Oh right" McGee said and then suddenly remembered why he was here. "Have you seen Abby?"

Tony shook his head "no why?"

"Uh something happened and I need to talk to her" McGee said, trying not to lie to Tony but not tell him the truth either.

"Like?" Tony said, getting very curious.

"Nothing" McGee said defensively "I just need to find her"

"Try locating Kate and she'll probably be there" Tony suggested.

"Ok where's Kate?" McGee asked again.

"That I can't help you with" Tony sighed.

"Why not?" McGee asked.

"Because I don't know where she went" Tony said "my father said something he shouldn't have and she left"

"What did he say?" McGee asked, getting curious.

"Probie" Tony said, annoyance in his voice "I said don't ask"

"oh right" McGee agreed "I'll go find her" and he turned to leave but stopped suddenly when he felt Tony grab the sleeve of his jacket.

"I have a better idea" Tony said, trying to sit himself up "how about you go get that wheelchair in the hallway and I'll help you locate them"

"Tony!" McGee exclaimed "you can't get out of bed without the approval of a nurse"

"Probie, I don't care" Tony said firmly "I want to find Kate and talk to her and before you jump to conclusion we didn't have a fight"

"Uh you told me your father said something that he shouldn't have to her, remember" McGee said, slightly confused why Tony had said that.

"Oh yeah" Tony remembered "right. Go get the chair and we'll go find them"

"but Tony' McGee whined, he didn't want to get into trouble.

"Probie!" Tony snapped "get the chair, bring it here and put me in it or else"

"Or else what" McGee said slowly and cautiously.

"Or else…or else I won't tell you who started the vicious rumor about you turning transsexual"

"There's no such rumor" McGee said, scanning his brain trying to remember if he had or not.

"No…but there will be unless you get me that chair" Tony threatened.

McGee sighed and went into the hallway to get the chair while Tony started to throw each leg over the side of the bed until he was in a sitting position.

"I still think this is a bad idea" McGee said as he wheeled the chair into Tony's room "what if someone finds out?"

"Nurses don't scare me" Tony said with a smile.

"nurses maybe not but Kate and Gibbs if they find out what I let you do, yes" McGee said, a shake in his voice as he helped Tony into the chair and begun wheeling it out and down the hallway in search for their better halves.

* * *

Abby paced the hallway of the 6th floor for the third time. She would have hid in the hospital garden but it had just started to storm and getting hit by lightning wasn't exactly fun. She had seen McGee searching for her so she had hid in a cupboard while he past. She didn't practically want to talk to him after he defended Ziva and said that Tony and Kate might not be meant to be but some part of her wanted to talk to him and get over their silly little fight. After all, it wasn't even about them in the first place.

As Abby turned the corner, she noticed that one of the doors to a room was slightly ajar. She walked up to it and carefully peered inside hoping to find a place to sit and think. But someone else was occupying the bed for the same reason. Abby opened the door and saw Kate sitting on the bed looking out the window at the falling rain.

"Kate?" Abby said surprised "why aren't you with Tony?"

Kate turned around and faced Abby. Abby could see that she'd been crying because her face was all red and puffy and wet from tears.

"Oh what happened?" Abby said sympathetically and sat on the bed next to Kate, placing an arm around her.

"Tony's father" Kate simply said and leaned into Abby's shoulder.

"Tony has a dad?" Abby said sarcastically, trying to cheer Kate up but when she could see that it didn't work, she tried another tactic.

"Lovely weather we're having" she said casually "I just love the heavy rain, the loud thunder and the blinding flashes of lightning"

Kate smiled "the rains not so bad" she said "it's soothing"

"Yeah if you like the sound of a thousand pins hitting a tin roof" Abby joked and hugged Kate tighter with her one arm "what's that matter?"

"Tony's dad hates me" Kate sobbed.

"no one could hate you" Abby said defending Kate but then paused and remembered Ziva "ok maybe people _can_ hate you but that's like one person in the however many billions that live on earth"

"You mean three people" Kate said correcting her.

"Three?" Abby said, confused.

"Ziva, my mother and Tony's father" Kate explained after hearing Abby's sudden silence.

"Your mum hates you?" Abby said surprised "why?"

Kate pulled Abby's arm closer around her and began to tell her everything from the beginning, starting with what had happened after Abby and McGee had left for dinner.


	48. Chapter 48: Decisions

Once Kate had finished explaining she took a deep breath and waited for Abby's reaction.

"What a bastard," Abby said quite bluntly thinking about Tony's father "No wonder Tony moved out as soon as he could"

Kate nodded and shifted a little before turning to Abby and saying "so what happened with you and McGee?"

"What do you mean?" Abby asked surprised at how observant Kate was.

"Oh come on," Kate replied "You guys have been inseparable ever since you got together and now you're…not"

Abby looked down at the ground and sighed; she should have known that if anybody could figure out that something was wrong it would be Kate.

"We had a fight" Abby sighed and sat down on the hospital bed next to Kate.

"What about?" Kate asked wondering what Abby and McGee had to fight about other than the best way to get rid of a virus on their computers.

"Actually," Abby said "It was about you and Tony and Ziva"

"Why would you guys fight about us?" Kate exclaimed not to sure how Abby and McGee could fight over something that didn't really involve them.

"Well," Abby explained "We were talking about how it was great that you and Tony were finally together and I said something about Ziva and McGee stared to defend her and take her side"

Kate couldn't help but smile this was typical McGee he would try to make everything alright so he wasn't stuck in the middle of a fight between his friends and forced to pick sides.

"Abby look at it from McGee's point of view," Kate said staring Abby straight in the eye "He is friends with me and Ziva it would be killing him to see me hurting because of the things Ziva has said to me, it would be killing him to see Ziva upset because of how she feels about Tony and what would be killing him most is that you're angry at him for just being a nice guy and trying to remain neutral and defend both his friends"

Abby knew Kate was right, she knew McGee too well and she also knew that what she loved most about McGee was exactly what Kate was describing.

"Yeah I guess," Abby sighed "but he shouldn't have said that maybe you and Tony weren't meant to be together"

Kate tried to hide the shock from her face and replied "I'm sure he didn't mean it and it was probably just a heat of the moment thing"

"Yeah I know," Abby said softly "I don't even know where to find him though"

"Well go look then" Kate exclaimed with a smile on her face.

"Oh right I'm just going to leave you here upset all by yourself" Abby replied.

"I'm fine" Kate said a little higher pitched than normal.

"Sure you are," Abby answered sarcastically "and it's not raining outside"

Kate looked up and noticed that it was actually raining outside and knew that Abby knew she wasn't fine.

"So I'm not going unless you come with and we find McGee and you talk to Tony" Abby said a grabbed Kate's arm dragging her towards the door. Kate couldn't help but smile even more, Abby always knew exactly what to say and do to cheer her up.

"We've looked everywhere McGee" Tony whined getting tired of searching the hospital for Kate when he obviously wasn't going to find her.

"Actually we haven't," McGee replied "if we had looked everywhere then we would have found them"

"Not helping McGee" Tony said as they continued searching the hospital.

"We haven't tried the maternity ward" McGee stated and started to wheel Tony in that direction.

"Why would Kate be there?" Tony asked.

"Hello Kate and babies" McGee exclaimed smirking as Tony suddenly went pale.

"WO," Tony said making McGee stop in his tracks and therefore stopping Tony's chair "No one ever said anything about babies"

McGee was about to reply when he was interrupted by a female voice behind him saying "What's wrong with babies DiNozzo?"

Tony looked over his shoulder and saw Kate and Abby coming towards him and McGee.

"Nothing Kate," Tony said quickly "I mean the spewing, the pooping, the crying, and the pooping what's not to love?"

Kate scoffed and came to a stop right in front of Tony who by now had turned his chair around and was now facing the direction Kate and Abby had come.

"Hey McGee" Abby said cheerfully surprising McGee since as far as he knew they were still fighting.

"Umm hey" McGee replied giving a small wave to Abby.

Abby smiled and walked straight up to McGee and linked his arm in hers.

"Let's go get some lunch" Abby said and dragged McGee off towards the cafeteria leaving Kate and Tony alone.

After a couple of seconds of silence Kate took the handles of Tony's chair and started to wheel him in the same direction Abby and McGee had just gone.

"Where are we going?" Tony asked wondering why Kate hadn't said anything yet.

"Lunch sounds good" Kate replied and continued wheeling Tony towards where he know knew was the cafeteria.

As Kate wheeled Tony down the hall she could see McGee and Abby had stopped and were now just a few paces in front of them deep in conversation.

"Kate" said a voice behind Kate and Tony.

Kate turned around and at the same time wheeled Tony around so he was facing the person who had spoken as well. As Kate came to a stop she was surprised to find the director of NCIS standing behind her.

"Um Hi Madame Director" Kate replied a little surprised as to why the director was here.

"It's Jenny Kate, you aren't my Agent" Director Sheppard answered with a friendly smile on her face.

"Oh right" Kate said still slightly shocked.

"Hi Jenny" Tony exclaimed from behind Kate giving the director a wave.

"That's Madame Director to you Special Agent DiNozzo" the director replied sternly but with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Right sorry director" Tony mumbled and looked at the floor.

"I don't mean to be rude or anything," Kate said "but why are you here director?"

"Well I thought I would come by and see how Tony was doing since the last time I saw him he was lying on the ground unconscious" Jenny answered partially lying.

"I'm great," Tony exclaimed "in fact I could be going home soon"

"What?" Kate replied shocked that Tony had neglected to tell her this vital piece of information.

"Oh I meant to tell you" Tony said realizing why Kate was so surprised.

"Tell me what?" Kate said loudly.

"Well," Tony explained "after I fell out of bed Nurse Emma called the doctor and he gave me a once over and said as long as I agree to physio 3 times a week he will discharge me in a couple of days"

"Tony that's fantastic" Kate exclaimed and gave Tony a hug.

"Yeah that's great" the director added with a smile.

Kate pulled away from Tony and turned back to the director.

"No offence director," Kate said cautiously "but you didn't come here just to see Tony did you?"

"No not exactly' the director replied.

"Well what did you come to talk about?" Kate asked getting suspicious.

"I actually came to discuss your career prospects" the director answered.

"Do we have to do that right now?" Kate asked wondering why it was so important to do this now.

"Well I've been leaving messages on your phone for a couple of weeks" the director said.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry," Kate explained "I meant to return them I've just been so distracted I really meant to call back"

"It's ok," the director replied "I just thought it might be easier if I came to see you in person that way you couldn't get distracted"

"Oh," Kate sighed and looked at the floor. Tony noticed that this conversation wasn't going to be a good one and decided to give the two women their privacy.

"Kate I'm really hungry," Tony said "I'll meet you in the cafeteria ok"

"Oh so now you can wheel yourself" Kate replied sarcastically.

"Hello I have arms" Tony answered and turned his chair so it was facing McGee and Abby who were now looking in their direction "McGee" Tony added and motioned with his arm for McGee to come and wheel him into the cafeteria.

"Yes Tony" McGee sighed and walked over to Tony and grabbed the handles of his chair.

"Forward lunch" Tony exclaimed and sat back and enjoyed the ride as McGee wheeled him to the cafeteria while talking to Abby who was walking beside them.

Both Kate and the director gave a small smirk at Tony finding him slightly amusing at that point before getting straight back to the point.

"So what about my career director" Kate asked fearing the worst.

"Well I have 3 options for you" the director replied dreading telling Kate what they were.

"Which are?" Kate asked anxious to find out what her future may hold.

"Well I can't give you back your old job with Gibbs as his team is already way over budget and we can't afford to fund another agent on his team" the director explained but added quickly at Kate's shocked look "but I can offer you a position on an alternate team"

"Which team?" Kate asked suspiciously.

"Agent Newman's" the director replied.

Kate stood shell shocked she knew if she accepted the position on Newman's team she wouldn't be able to see Tony very often as he and Gibbs hated each other and the interaction between the two teams would be minimal.

"What are options two and three?" Kate asked hoping for a better possibility.

"Fornell has offered you a position on his team at the FBI," the director replied "or you have also been offered your old position in the secret service only with a promotion"

"What kind of promotion?" Kate said warming to the third option more even though it meant she would be going away often sometimes for months at a time and this would be time away from Tony.

"Well you'll kind of be like the Presidents right hand…..man" the director answered.

Kate stood for a moment dwelling on the decision that now stood before her.

"I'm going to have to discuss this with Tony" Kate sighed.

"I know," the director replied "I expected nothing less"

Kate took a deep breath as she watched the director walk off before turning around and walking towards the cafeteria where she would talk to Tony about what she was going to do.

Unbeknownst to Kate and the director an extremely happy Ziva had heard the whole conversation and was ready to gloat unaware that Gibbs was standing directly behind her.

* * *

**We're sorry about the long 2 week delay. We had our final yr 12 exams, plus a formal and then after all that we were suffering from writers block so again we're really sorry for the delay. We are still going to continue writing this story but we won't be updating as fast as we usually did because we are extremly busy at the moment and I am moving state in 3 weeks so there will be a short delay writing during that time but we love recieving reviews so keep em' coming!! The next chapter should be up shortly. Happy Reading!!**


	49. Chapter 49: An interesting twist

Ziva was about to turn around when she got a chill down her spine.

"You're standing right behind me aren't you Gibbs?" Ziva said, squirming a little.

"Yes and what do you find so amusing?" Gibbs asked Ziva, who was yet to turn around.

"Uh nothing much Gibbs" Ziva said quickly.

Gibbs slowly leaned over to the right and saw Kate's back as she was walking away.

"Now what could you possibility find that is so amusing that involves Kate?" Gibbs asked firmly.

Ziva slowly turned around and knew there was no point in arguing with Gibbs.

"The director was speaking to her?" Ziva explained.

"And…" Gibbs said the tone in his voice saying that he wanted Ziva to continue.

"And they aren't good options" Ziva said "they uh all involve well stuff that you won't be happy about"  
Gibbs looked firmly at Ziva and pushed past her and ran down the hallway after Kate. Ziva shook her head and walked away.

"KATE!" Gibbs yelled down the hallway, forcing Kate to stop in her tracks and turn around.

"What?" Kate asked, still slightly frustrated by her work options.

"What did the director want?" Gibbs asked, finally catching up.

"She gave me three options" Kate told Gibbs with a sigh.

"And they were?" Gibbs asked, surprised that he got it out of Kate so quickly.

"Well one option is coming back to work for NCIS" Kate explained.

"That's great!" Gibbs exclaimed "what's wrong with that?"

"On Newman's team" Kate finished. Gibbs's expression went from an excited to a not-very-impressed expression.

"Over my dead body, next" he said, arms folded.

"My second option was an offer from Fornell to work on his team. Apparently surviving being held hostage by a terrorist is something he admires and says can help 'solve crimes"

"Again over my dead body" Gibbs answered firmly.

"Well my last option is going back to work for the secret service only with a promotion" Kate sighed.

"What kind of promotion?" Gibbs asked, not realising what working for the secret service involved.

"Well I'd kinda be the president's right hand…man" Kate explained.

"Which involves?" Gibbs said, leading her on.

"Which involves lots of paper work, taking long trips, long meetings and I don't know, taking a bullet in a massacre" Kate shrugged.

"Now Kate I'm going to say this for the last time" Gibbs said but Kate beat him to it,

"Over my dead body. Gibbs what can I do then?" she whined.

"Nothing that involves you getting hurt" Gibbs informed her.

"You do realise that I've been hurt or in more danger working for NCIS then I had been working for the secret service" Kate stated bluntly.

"Sure you have?" Gibbs said smugly.

"Well at NCIS, I was held hostage by a terrorist in our own building with two other people. Then I was kidnapped by the SAME terrorist months later and then that same terrorist faked my death and kept me hostage for two years. This is excluding all the times I got hit from a suspect, or threatened or that time that umm Susanna blew the building up a while ago"

Gibbs rolled his eyes trying not to admit that she was right.  
"Look I want to keep an eye on you" he said, placing his hands on her shoulders "I spent two years believing you were dead and I had to help DiNozzo, McGee and the rest of them get through it. If you're working for Newman, Fornell or flying across the country, how am I supposed to keep you safe?"

Kate never felt so loved before. Ok maybe she had, but right then it was a pretty good feeling.  
"Look Gibbs, I need to get a job and so far the secret service is the best option. I know that me coming back is going to take some time getting used to and everything but you can't always keep us safe. Everyone goes home at the end of the day and what stops some lunatic breaking into our house and murdering us? You can't always be there to protect us" Kate said, trying to explain.

"I know" Gibbs agreed "you mean everything to me, you all do and if anything happened to any of you I wouldn't know what to do. I died the day we thought Ari shot you. I don't want anything like that to happen again. Ever since Kelly and Shannon died, you people have been my family. I see you as a daughter and them as sons even when I want to strangle them"

Kate paused for a moment "who is Kelly and Shannon?" she asked. She'd never heard their names before and when and how did they die?  
Gibbs went quiet for a moment. Mentioning Kelly and Shannon was a slip of the tongue. No one apart from Ziva knew about them and that was only because she researched him for Ari when she was his control officer and now he'd let it slip to Kate.

After a few seconds of silence Gibbs took a deep breath and replied "Shannon was my first wife and Kelly was my daughter"

Kate stood shocked she now understood a little more why Gibbs was how he was and why he had so much trouble with relationships. Kate couldn't believe that even though she picked up on things she hadn't been able to work this out, Gibbs had hidden it well.

"How come you never told me any of this?" Kate asked.

"Because Kate after they died I did something I'm not proud of and it's been years and I didn't want you or anyone else feeling sorry for me"

Kate could see Gibbs was starting to get emotional and this was something that was completely new to her she had never seen Gibbs show any kind of emotion before, it was kind of disturbing.

"How did they die Gibbs?" Kate said gently not wanting to sound to sympathetic.

"They were murdered after Shannon became a witness to a marine murder" Gibbs explained.

"What happened?" Kate asked not wanting to dig too much.

"The driver of their car was killed and Shannon and Kelly both died in the crash" Gibbs replied tears starting to well up in his eyes.

"What happened to the murderer?" Kate said already knowing what the answer would be.

Gibbs looked at Kate with a look of disappointment in his eyes before saying "What would you have done Kate?"

With that comment Gibbs gave a half hearted smile to Kate and turned and walked away not being able to handle the conversation anymore. Kate watched as Gibbs left and knew exactly what she would have done and was confident it was what Gibbs had done and the authorities had never being able to find Shannon and Kelly's killer.

Kate sighed heavily before heading towards the cafeteria knowing that she had to tell Tony at some point what her options were and hopefully decide what would be best for both of them.

* * *

Tony sat in his chair fiddling with his lunch even though he was hungry he just couldn't bring himself to eat until he knew exactly what the director wanted.

"Tony I thought you were hungry" McGee exclaimed annoyed that Tony had conned him into buying him lunch that he wasn't even going to eat.

"I am" Tony replied not in the mood for small talk.

"Then why aren't you eating your food?" McGee said noticing that something was wrong.

"Not hungry" Tony answered contradicting himself.

McGee grunted in frustration and looked up relieved to see that Kate was heading towards the table.

"Tony I'm going to go get something to drink" McGee said and rushed away from the table after Tony gave a small nod.

Kate sat down in the seat McGee had just left and looked across at Tony who had just noticed she was there.

"What did she say?" Tony asked anxiously.

"I have three options" Kate explained and took in Tony's reaction to every single job option as she said them noticing that he felt the same as Gibbs.

"I guess we have a decision to make" Tony sighed and gripped Kate's hand from across the table.

"Yeah we do" Kate replied already knowing which job would most likely come out on top.

* * *

3 months later

Tony stood beside his desk watching as McGee slowly made his way towards the elevator.

"Hurry up McGeek," Tony whined poking McGee in the back with his cane "some of us want to go this century"

McGee turned around and gave Tony a dirty look before resuming his slow pace towards the elevator. Tony rolled his eyes and continued poking McGee in the back with his cane hoping that it would annoy McGee enough for him to go faster.

"Aren't you meant to use that to walk with?" McGee asked annoyed and on the verge of snapping Tony's cane in half.

"Yeah," Tony replied "but this is more fun"

McGee grunted as Tony continued to poke him getting harder each time.

Tony suddenly stopped when he heard the sound of the elevator ping. Both Tony and McGee looked up to see Kate enter the squad room with 3 men in tow.

"Whoa," Tony exclaimed "she looks hot".

"Yeah she does" McGee agreed noticing that Kate was wearing a very formal suit and was wearing a slight amount of make up.

McGee squealed in pain and just about fell over as Tony jabbed him extremely hard in the back with his cane. McGee gripped his lower back in his hands and started to grimace and make noises that only amused Tony further.

"Everything alright Agent McGee?" Kate asked as she came to a stop in front of him and Tony.

"Yes fine" McGee replied through gritted teeth giving Tony a filthy look.

"Good," Kate said "In that case Mr President I would like you to meet Agents DiNozzo and McGee"


	50. Chapter 50: Traitor in the midst

Tony and McGee stood there speechless. Standing before them was the President of the United States. Even though Kate always said that being with him wasn't that amazing, Tony still couldn't believe that the President was standing right in front of them.

"Mr.President Sir," Tony stuttered "what brings you to NCIS"

The President looked around the squad room. "I'm here for a very important ceremony" he said turning back to Tony and McGee.

McGee and Tony quickly looked at each other. There was a formal ceremony this afternoon but it was the usual, once a month ceremony that involved the director handing out medals and certificates for good work and good behaviour. Nothing important enough for the President of the United States to attend.

Tony looked over at Kate and gave her a sort of 'what the hell is happening' expression but all she did was smile back and introduce the two men who were also standing there but had failed to be noticed.

"Tony, McGee I'd like you to meet Agents Mark Stevens and Brian Jones"

Mark extended a hand to Tony and McGee who both in turns shook it. Brian however, held back and glared at them in a very unfriendly and disturbing manner.

"We really should get going Mr President," she added, extending her hand in front of them motioning for them to move on "the ceremony should be starting soon and we want to make sure we get good seats"

"I'm the President. I always get good seats" the President said with a smile and walked forward, followed by Brian. Mark shrugged and turned to follow the leaving Kate alone with Tony and McGee.

"What's this all about?" Tony asked.

"You'll see" Kate said with a smile, quickly placed a quick kiss on Tony's cheek and walked towards the stairs following Brian, Mark and the President. This left Tony and McGee by themselves to try and think up a million possibilities as to what was going on.

Roughly about 30 or so agents were sitting in the presentation room with all eyes on the President who was sitting in the front row with his presidential details.

Ziva had only recently joined them from the evidence garage and she was probably the only one in the room not wondering why the President was sitting in on the ceremony.

"Come on Ziva, you aren't even a little curious?" Tony asked for the 5th time in 10 minutes.

"NO DiNozzo," Ziva snapped "I couldn't care less why he's here. If it was something important then we'll find out soon but for now, ask McGee"

"I already have" Tony whined.

"And?"

"He threatened me" Tony said slightly ashamed that McGee was able to do it. This made Ziva laugh.

"How could McGee threaten you?" she asked.

"He threatened to install a virus that could totally wipe out my Mythical World Conquer game on my computer. Do you realise how long it took me to conquer the evil wizard in the castle guarded by evil fairies and those trolls who shoot acid boogers at you?" Tony said defensively.

"Forget I asked" Ziva said shaking her head and turned towards the director getting up on stage.

"I'd like to thank you all for coming to this ceremony today, especially Mr.President who has kindly decided to attend….although I'm not at all sure why," the Director began "but before I go ahead to present the medals for today I'd like to call up Secret Service Agent Caitlin Todd to uh talk to you all" and she motioned for Kate to get up.

"Oh yippee" Ziva said sarcastically and slumped in her chair which earnt her an evil glare from McGee and a jab from Tony's elbow.

"Thankyou director for letting us come here today" Kate said formally to the room, which surprised Tony because he'd never heard her speak like that before.

"Now it's not every day that people put their lives on the line to save another and not everyone is capable of preventing a terrorist attack but sitting in this room are 6 people who did just that and more"

"Who is she talking about?" Tony asked leaning into McGee.

"I think she's talking about us" McGee whispered back.

"So I'd like to invite the President of the United States to say a few words and to present…." Kate continued and paused for dramatic effect "The Presidential Medal of Freedom to the members of Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs's team"

"WHAT!" Tony exclaimed din surprise. This Presidential Medal was not something that one gets everyday.

Tony turned to McGee and Ziva who were both speechless, jaws dropping to the ground. Even though Ziva didn't usually care about receiving medals for her work, even she knew the importance and the meaning of the medal she was about to receive.

"Thank you Agent Todd" the President said as he stood up "yes today is a very special day for the members of Special Agent Gibbs's team. As most of you in this room would know, Agent Todd died two years ago at the hands of terrorist Ari Haswari" he said pointing at Kate.

A few new members of NCIS looked confused at the statement but were certain that the President was going to explain himself; well they hoped he was. Either that or he was going a bit loopy.

"Anyway," the President continued, noticing the agents "once Agent Gibbs and his team discovered that the event never happened, rather her death had been faked and she had been kidnapped, they didn't rest and exacted every resource in order to find her and prevent another terrorist attack"

Tony looked around the room and noticed that almost every eye was looking in their corner with amazement and shock. Tony turned back to the President who smiled and continued.

"These people put their lives on the line not once but many times to save Agent Todd and bring her home. I'm sure none of them will forget exploding buildings, attacks on fellow members of NCIS and the very scary but impressive battle that led to the near fatal shooting of one of Special Agent Gibbs's team"

Tony looked at Kate in shock. He couldn't believe that she had told the President EVERYTHING!

"People are staring us," McGee whispered leaning into Tony "mainly you"

"I know McGee," Tony whispered back "but you know what?"

"What?" McGee asked in interest.

"At least that cute girl I've been flirting with for a year is finally noticing me" Tony said with a smile.

"Tony!" McGee said in a raised whisper "YOU'RE WITH Kate"

"When I said I've been I meant I had been before I….uh….oh shut up McGee" Tony said frustrated realising that he was just digging a deeper hole for himself.

"So it is with great pleasure," the President continued "that I invite the following people to the stage to accept this prestigious medal……….Special Agent Timothy McGee"

McGee looked at Tony who gave him a wink before getting up and making his way up to the stage.

"Officer Ziva David"

On the other side of him Ziva got up with little to no emotion showing and made her way towards the stage.

"Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo"

At the mention of his name Tony leant in front of him and grabbed his cane and limped his way onto the stage. Tony walked up to the President and shook his hand and took his medal before taking his place on the stage next to McGee and Ziva.

"And finally," the President said rounding off his list "the team leader Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs"

Tony took a step forwards expecting to have to accept another one of Gibbs' medals but was shocked to see his boss making his way towards the stage.

"This is weird," Tony murmured to McGee "Gibbs never accepts any of his medals"

McGee just shrugged and continued to watch as the event unfolded. Tony took a quick glance around the room and noticed one of the Presidents bodyguards which he had met earlier in the corner talking into what looked like his phone.

"Look at that McGee," Tony spat quietly gesturing towards Brian "he's talking on his phone during a formal ceremony…how rude"

"It could be important" McGee replied getting annoyed at Tony's constant interruptions.

Tony accepted this explanation but still wished he could be a fly on the wall because whatever could be more important than this ceremony would be worth hearing.

"Let's hear a big round of applause for Agent Gibbs and his team of fine Agents" the President said and started clapping as Gibbs took his place next to his team.

Tony almost blocked his ears as the room erupted with applause, he had never felt so proud in his life and for a split second he felt bad that his father couldn't be there to watch his son receive the greatest honour of his life.

Gibbs looked across at Tony and could tell exactly what he was thinking and he hoped Tony would appreciate what Gibbs had done; after all he had been late to his own awards ceremony to do it.

"Before I leave the stage I have one final award to present," The President said cheerily after the applause had ceased "and that is one final Presidential Medal of Freedom to the entire NCIS team for the gallant efforts and timeless resources put in to finding and bringing down rogue Mossad Agent Ari Haswari"

Tony and the rest of the team watched as Jenny walked back onto the stage and accepted the award from the President. In the crowd Tony saw Abby and Ducky smiling and clapping along with the rest of the people in the room, of course Abby's was a little, maybe a lot more enthusiastic then everybody else.

After inspecting the crowd further Tony's eye caught a glimpse of someone in the back row that he neither wanted nor expected to see.

Tony stared straight at his father and gave him the dirtiest look he could before setting his eyes on Gibbs who simply turned away confirming Tony's suspicions that this was his doing.

Unbeknownst to Tony and everyone else his father was the least of their worries as Brian's phone conversation continued.

"No not yet," Brian snapped into the phone "because the ceremony isn't over yet"

Brian was unaware that he had been seen talking on the phone but even if he did know he wouldn't have been worried because he wasn't within earshot of anyone.

"Once it's over I will call you, but don't pick up there won't be time," Brian explained into the phone "You'll know it's me because I will let it ring three times before I hang up"

Brian listened for a while before anger and worry flashed across his face.

"Don't back out on me now," Brian yelled as quietly as he could "remember who I am and what I can have done to you…or your family"

With that Brian hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket with a smug smile on his face. He looked up at the stage and saw the President talking to Kate. Brian envied Kate, she was the Presidents golden girl and in his eyes nothing she did was ever wrong. If Brian had of been caught making out with his girlfriend while he was on duty he would have been read the riot act and most likely disciplined.

As Brian continued watching he couldn't help but feel smug as nobody in the room least of all Kate had any idea what he had in store for them.


	51. Chapter 51: The Betrayal

As the applause continued, Gibbs couldn't any more proud of his team and he knew that they deserved every bit of the award they received.

As soon as the applause died down, the President gave a small nod of his head towards the director indicating that he was finished. Jenny smiled politely and made her way to the front of the stage.

"I'd like to thank the President of the United States for coming today" she said and turned to the President "we all very much appreciate you coming and thank you for the medals"

The president nodded and made his way off the stage and sat back down on his front row seat, followed by Kate. As the ceremony continued, Kate gave a quick glance over at Tony and smiled, a gesture that was gladly returned. Tony then turned from Kate back to Brian who was still standing in the corner of the room. Brian turned to notice Tony staring at him and quickly put his phone away in his pocket. He prayed that he hadn't been blown because everything he had planned counted on nothing going wrong. Brian glared evilly at Tony and made his way to his seat next to Kate.

"Where were you?" Kate whispered turning to Brain.

"None of your business" Brain snapped.

Something in Kate's gut told her that Brain was bad news but the President trusted him and that should be good enough for her so she turned back to the front just as the final NCIS agent received their medal.

* * *

After the ceremony, one by one everyone made their way out of the room and back to their desks. The President and his detail were invited in the director's office for morning tea but Kate politely declined saying she'd rather have something to eat with her old team. As the President, the director and Mark made their way towards the director's office, Brain tagged along slowly grinning to himself. Because Kate being separate to the President was only helping his plan to unfold and gave him one less person to worry about getting in his way.

As Kate, Tony and McGee made their way down the stairs towards their desks; McGee paused for a moment and turned around noticing Ziva taking her time. McGee stopped and waited for her to catch up.

"What's wrong Ziva?" McGee asked.

"Them" Ziva mumbled indicating Kate and Tony with a quick flick of her head.

"Them?" McGee repeated "what's wrong with them?"

"Don't worry McGee you just wouldn't understand" Ziva pouted and pushed past him and walked towards the elevator past Kate and Tony.

Kate noticed Ziva leave and turned to McGee who just joined them. "What's wrong with her?" she asked.

"Nothing, headache" McGee lied trying to give Ziva some privacy.

"umm ok" Kate said and started to walk towards Gibbs's desk but before she could take another step, Tony wrapped his arms around Kate's waist and swung her around, lifting her off the ground. McGee smiled as he watched Tony wrestle and Kate struggling to get free, laughing like a school girl in the process. This was something totally different to what he used to see when Kate was working for Gibbs. McGee took a seat at his desk and began eating his sandwich while Kate and Tony continued to muck around, all unaware that Brain was watching them from the upstairs balcony.

* * *

He had used the excuse of needing to go to the bathroom to get out of the room. All the praise and happy people in the room were making him sick and watching Kate acting like a love struck teen wasn't helping the matter especially the fact that if she was caught by the President, he'd only smile and kindly remind her not to do that while she was on duty. Just the thought of what was going to happen made him grin and he reached into his pocket to retrieve his phone. He then dialed a number and slowly brought it close to his ear to hear it ringing but as soon as he was going to hang up, someone on the other end picked up.

"You idiot" brain whispered loudly and angrily "I told you not to pick up...I don't care if you forgot...don't you dare get cold feet on me now...no you listen to me. I've been planning this for years. This is the best chance I've had and you are not going to screw it up for me now, do you hear me? Everything is going according to plan now get into position" and he forcefully hung up, slamming his phone shut and shoving it back in his pocket. He took one more look at Kate and Tony, muttering _'Oh God' _and made his way back to the director's office so he'd give himself an alibi.

* * *

McGee laughed as Tony picked Kate up by the waist and watched as they tumbled to the floor, laughing because Tony had lost his balance with Kate's constant wiggling.

"Are you sure you should be doing that?" McGee asked Kate looking over his desk at her on the floor "considering you are on duty as the President of the United States detail"

Kate gave a small giggle and begun to softly push Tony away from her while he was trying to kiss her all over the face.

"Tony," she giggled "McGee's right...we need to stop"

Tony sighed and sat up against his desk while Kate got up from the floor and straightened her suit.

"Now if you don't mind, I'm going to the bathroom" and with that she turned and walked away but not before letting out another little giggle as she left. McGee sat there looking at Tony.

"Have fun?" he asked sarcastically.

"You know I did" Tony said, rather proud of himself that he could reduce Kate to rolling on the floor laughing while on duty.

"Should you really be doing that?" McGee asked with genuine concern in his voice.

"Doing what?" Tony replied not sure what McGee was talking about.

"Lifting Kate up," McGee explained "you know with your injury and all"

"Oh that," Tony exclaimed "nah its fine I can walk a short distance without the cane so lifting Kate is no problem"

"Whatever you say" McGee mumbled

At that moment Tony and McGee looked up to see Gibbs coming down the stairs accompanied by Tony's father. McGee looked at Tony and saw a look of anger and hatred in his eyes, something was going to go down and McGee would be right in the middle of it.

"So what you two are buddies now?" Tony snapped walking up to Gibbs and Antonio.

"Son don't get mad at……." Antonio started but was interrupted by Tony.

"YOU DO NOT GET TO CALL ME SON" Tony yelled and then directed his attention to Gibbs.

"WHAT THE HELL GIVES YOU THE RIGHT GIBBS," Tony yelled "YOU KNEW I DIDN'T WANT TO SEE HIM YET YOU BROUGHT HIM HERE"

Gibbs stood gob smacked at Tony's reaction, he had known that Tony wouldn't have taken it well but he didn't expect his reaction to be this bad.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs replied calmly "this is an important time for you; I thought it would be nice if you had some family there for you"

"This man is not my family," Tony said a lot more calmly "and this is none of your business"

"DiNozzo I make it my business if it affects somebody on my team" Gibbs said staring Tony straight in the eye. Tony stared straight back and said just loudly enough so only Gibbs could hear "I may be on your team but you have just lost my trust and my respect"

"As for you," Tony continued turning to his father "get the hell out of my life and stay out"

With that Tony turned his back on the two men and went and sat back down at his desk.

Gibbs and Antonio just stood there trying to hide their emotions because neither them wanted to show anybody how much Tony's comments had hurt them.

"Where's the President?" McGee asked feeling the need for a change of subject.

"Uh with Abby and the Director," Gibbs replied still shaken "Abby is showing him how each of her machines works"

There was an awkward silence where only the sound of Tony typing on his keyboard could be heard before Gibbs asked "Where's Kate and Ziva?"

"Kate went to the bathroom and I think Ziva went outside for some air" McGee replied.

Gibbs grunted in acceptance and turned to Tony's father.

"Thanks for coming anyway" Gibbs said and shook Antonio's hand.

"It was my pleasure" Antonio replied and headed towards the elevator.

Tony rolled his eyes and started hitting the keys on his keyboard harder.

"Umm Agent Gibbs" Antonio said.

"Yeah" Gibbs replied walking over to where he was standing.

"Is there something wrong with the elevators?" Antonio asked pressing the elevator button again.

"No why?" Gibbs answered.

"Well I've pressed the button 3 times now and nothing has happened" Antonio explained.

Gibbs pressed the elevator button and just as Antonio had said the elevator didn't come.

"That's ok I'll just use the stairs" Antonio said and gave a small smile before heading over to the stairs.

"McGee call maintenance" Gibbs snapped and sat down at his desk wondering how the hell the day could get any worse.

* * *

Standing outside NCIS was a small group of men holding guns and deep in conversation.

"Has everyone got the plan?" one of the men said.

All the other men nodded except one who asked "The plan is good but I have one question"

"What would that be Nick?" the man snapped.

"How do we get into the building?" Nick replied.

The man who looked like the leader of the group sighed and slapped his hand with his face before explaining "Brian said its all sorted ok, just trust me"

Nick nodded and followed the men as they walked straight towards the front doors and the waiting security guard.

"Can I help you?" the security guard said suspiciously.

"Yeah," the leader replied "Agent Brian Jones sent us as back up protection for the president"

"ID" the security guard asked.

The leader fiddled around in his pocket and pulled out a perfectly manufactured fake ID. The security guard nodded and moved out of the way for them to enter.

The leader and the rest of the men entered the building and made their way up to the NCIS squad room. Their plan was falling into place perfectly.

* * *

"Gibbs" Tony said finally been forced to talk to Gibbs.

"Yeah DiNozzo?" Gibbs replied.

"My guns gone" Tony exclaimed looking in his drawer.

Gibbs and McGee opened up their drawers to and were shocked to notice that their guns were missing as well.

Before they had a chance to process what was happening a bunch of men burst into the room carrying guns and started shooting.


	52. Chapter 52: Death At NCIS?

"GET ON THE GROUND NOW!" shouted the man who Gibbs would have guessed to be the man in charge. He and at least another three men were running into the squad room waving their guns in people's faces, ordering them to drop to the ground. Gibbs looked over at Tony and noticed that he had his hand on his holster where his gun would usually be but because his weapon was missing; Tony had a worried look on his face.

"EVERYONE DOWN NOW!" the lead man continued to shout and he forcefully walked up to Gibbs, grinning "that means you too" he said smugly "or else"

"Or else what?" Gibbs said, trying to remain brave and in control.

"Or else..." he said and motioned with his head for Gibbs to turn and look at Tony and McGee, who at the present moment, had guns pointed at their heads "or else I give the orders and I kill these two here and now. Do you hear me?"

Gibbs gave a small nod and began to lower himself to the floor. Usually in a situation like this he felt strong and even though he'd be slightly scared for his own safety and that of his agents. Now without a weapon Gibbs felt scared and it felt like he had no control over anything that was happening. Once he had finished slowly lowering himself to the ground, he looked over and watched the two men with Tony and McGee forcefully push them to the ground. Gibbs was about to mouth an "are you ok?" when the lead man began to talk.

"Nick, get here!" he demanded at one of the armed men.

"Yes Rick" the man said as he made his way over "what do you want?"

"Find me the president" he demanded "and bring him here"

"And if someone gets in my way?" Nick asked.

"Kill them" Rick instructed "and don't hesitate"

Nick nodded and started walking towards the stairs but stopped and turned back around.

"Where is the president Rick?" he said, asking something he should have asked before he'd left.

"Why up here" came a voice from above, causing everyone in the room to look up and spy Brian leaning over the balcony.

"Brian!" Gibbs mumbled under his breath, cursing himself because he didn't figure it out sooner.

Brian smiled over the balcony and started to slowly walk down the stairs and made his way over to his men who were in the middle of Gibbs, Tony and McGee's desks.

"ok here's the plan" Brian said, taking control "Ryan I want you and Shaun to round up everyone in this building and put them up here" motioning the other two men to move the other agents who were in the room under their desks to the middle of the floor "Rick, you'll be going with Nick and getting our guests upstairs while I remain here and shoot anyone who is stupid enough to try something. Anyone who resists shoot them. Understand?"

Rick and the other three men nodded and split up to perform their tasks, leaving Brian to watch his hostages. Brain took a quick look around the room and once he saw Gibbs, Tony and McGee sitting on the floor, a huge grin crossed his face.

"Well look what we have here" he said smugly "the famous Special Agent Gibbs and his team with no weapons and no way to stop me"

"Brian you bastard" Gibbs said angrily "how can you do this?"

"You're acting like I just thought of this" Brian said sarcastically "I've been planning this for years and..." and before he could finish, Tony butted in with a sarcastic;

"Let me guess, this is the part where you reveal your evil plan to us in an attempt to make you look smarter than you really are"

This made Brian furious. "How dare you speak to me like that!" he spat "you do realise that I have your life in the palm of hand and I choose whether you live or die"

Tony took a deep breath and said nothing. He knew that Brian was right but he had to remain calm and not panic.

Just before Brain was about to say something else threatening, he turned to see Rick and Nick forcing the president, the director and Mark down stairs with their hands bound behind their backs.

"Mr. President Sir, Madam Director, Marcus how are we all?" he said arrogantly.

"Brian Jones, how can you do this" the President demanded "after all I've done for you?"

"Well technically you've only really paid my pay checks" Brian said bluntly "other than that you've used me, bossed me around and dragged me all over the place so you could have a life"

"That's your job idiot" Mark snapped "now let us go!"

"uh no" Brain said casually "I think you people can join the rest of the bloody building here on the floor" and with a forceful jab with his finger, pointed to the floor where Shaun and Ryan had moved desks out of the way to make room for everyone else in the building. Gibbs took a look around the room and was glad that is was Saturday and that not as many people were here today. Just as his eyes passed his desk, which had been moved against the wall, he spotted Abby and Ducky sitting together on the floor. They looked scared but otherwise unharmed.

Brian took a quick look around the room but something was telling him someone was missing.

"Is this everyone?" he asked Shaun in a tone that meant 'it had better be everyone or you're going to regret it'

"Yes Brain" Shaun said nervously but confidently at the same time, if that was even possible "everyone from upstairs, this level, the labs and the garage. Why?"

"Someone's missing" Brian said and scanned the room again.

Tony took a look around the room and noticed that Kate wasn't there. He gave a quick look at Gibbs and saw that he had noticed it to.

Suddenly a small grin appeared across Brian's face.

"Shaun, I'm going to ask you a little question. Get it right and you'll live. Get it wrong and well you're going to wish you never got up this morning" Brian said calmly and evilly.

Shaun gulped and said "uh yes brain"

"Where is Kate?" Brain said as if he was just throwing out the question.

"Uh not here" Shaun said nervously.

"Yes that is correct" Brian said casually "and can you tell me who else is missing?"

Gibbs looked around the room quickly but couldn't pick who was missing. He looked over at Tony and McGee who, by judging by the expressions on their faces, didn't know either.

"Uh I'm not sure Brian" Shaun said "please don't shoot me"

Brian rolled his eyes. If Shaun was as smart as he should have been, then he would have known that he wasn't going to shoot him because Brian needed numbers.

"Oh right you never met her did you" Brian said, suddenly realising why Shaun couldn't pick it.

"Uh no Brian" Shaun said, slowly realising that he wasn't going to die.

"Agent Gibbs" Brian said, turning to Gibbs "where is Officer David?"

Gibbs looked around and noticed that Ziva was missing; he couldn't believe he hadn't worked that out before.

"I don't know" Gibbs replied.

Brian seemed to accept this answer and walked over to Tony and McGee hoping one of them knew where she was.

"Do either of you know where the Jew is?" Brian asked forcefully getting increasingly annoyed that he hadn't managed to get everyone.

Tony and McGee sat silently on the ground, both of them knew where Ziva had gone but neither of them was going to put her in danger. Brian pulled out his gun and pointed it at the two men getting very frustrated with there continuous disregard for who was in charge.

"Tell me where she is," Brian snapped "or I swear to god neither of you will live through this"

Tony and McGee continued to sit there silently, both of them were scared but both of them would also give their life to save another member of the team. Brian let out a frustrated groan and looked around the room. As Brian was glancing around he saw NCIS's forensic scientist sitting on the ground and a plan formed in his head.

Brian walked over to where Abby and Ducky were sitting and pointed his gun directly at Abby's head.

McGee gasped and for a minute Tony thought he would have to restrain him from going over there and beating the living daylights out of Brian.

"Tell me where she is or I shoot you're little girlfriend over here" Brian said smugly placing his gun on Abby's temple.

McGee was scared; he and Abby had only been together for a few months but already he knew that she was the one he wanted by his side for the rest of his life.

"She went outside for some air" McGee sighed, he felt terrible for giving Ziva up but he knew that she wouldn't have wanted him to sacrifice Abby to save her.

Brian smiled and took his gun away from Abby's head.

"Thankyou Agent McGee," Brian said lowering his gun so it was pointing at the floor "as a reward I'm going to let Miss Scuito here come over and sit with you and Agent DiNozzo"

With that Brian lifted Abby up forcefully and dragged her over to Tony and McGee. McGee grabbed Abby and pulled her into a hug as Brian forced her to the ground.

"Are you ok?" McGee whispered clutching Abby's hand so tightly his knuckled were going white.

"I am now" Abby replied and returned McGee's strong grip.

Tony watched Abby and McGee and wished that he was with Kate; he didn't care where it was just as long as he was with her.

"Ryan," Brian said loudly causing one of his men to come over "Take Shaun and find Kate and Officer David"

"But we looked everywhere," Ryan replied "Where else are we supposed to look?"

Brian glared at the two men who too a few steps back and nodded before going off to do their jobs.

Brain was just about to say something to the hostages in the room when he heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Who's that?" Brian whispered so as not to alert them that he was there.

"I don't know" Tony replied hoping it wasn't Kate or Ziva.

"Let's go check shall we" Brian said smugly and dragged Tony off the ground and towards the steps which was quite painful for Tony as he wasn't used to having so much weight on his legs.

Brian finally released Tony from his grip and said quietly "if they're not NCIS get rid of them….unless its Kate"

Tony nodded and walked to the top of the stairs.

"Who's there?" Tony asked nervously hoping they weren't NCIS.

"Just me," a familiar voice replied "I forgot something earlier and I was just coming back to get it"

"Dad," Tony answered "what are you doing here?"

"I just said I forgot something" Antonio snapped annoyed that Tony hadn't heard him the first time.

"Well you can't get it now" Tony said quickly trying to think of an excuse so he would leave.

"Why not?" Antonio exclaimed.

"Umm because we're in the middle of a lockdown drill," Tony explained "nobody comes in or out"

"It'll only take a minute;" Antonio pleaded "I'll be in and out in a flash"

"NO," Tony yelled annoyed he wasn't getting it "NOBODY CAN COME IN"

Brian was standing next to Tony but out of sight of Antonio and was getting increasingly anxious because it was staking so long. It was then he made a decision after all he couldn't risk this guy suspecting that something was going on and leaving so he could inform the authorities.

Brian grabbed Tony by his shirt and pulled him to the ground causing Tony to grunt in pain.

"What the hell are you doing?" Tony said and for the first time actually being worried about his father. Brian just smiled and stood at the top of that stairs.

"Who are you?" Antonio demanded getting worried that something bad was happening "what did you do to my son?"

"Nothing compared to what I'm going to do to you" Brian replied and with that pulled out his gun and shot Antonio in the stomach causing him to roll backwards down the stairs and land in a pool of his own blood.

"DAD" Tony screamed feeling something for his father that he hadn't felt in years and hoping that he wasn't dead.


	53. Chapter 53: Ziva's Sacrifice

"DAD!" Tony screamed again and ran to his father, who lay bleeding on the ground "DAD, SPEAK TO ME!" but all Antonio did was moan in pain. Brian watched over Tony and his father with the biggest grin on his face. It was like he was _proud_ of what he was doing but suddenly his face became serious again. With Ryan and Shaun searching for Kate and Ziva, it only left Rick and Nick to watch the roomful of people in the squad room and knowing Gibbs, he would take advantage of the lack of supervision. It was then that Brian decided that enough was enough and he reached down and grabbed Tony by his collar and yanked him up. Despite Tony's struggling, he just couldn't break away from Brian's grip due to his detail training, so all he could do was helplessly watch his father lying on the floor and being dragged away by Brian back up the stairs and back into the squad room. Once there, Brian practically threw him on the floor and took his position at the front of the crowd, next to Rick and Nick.

* * *

Standing just outside the bathroom, Kate stood wondering what the noise she just heard was. She wasn't sure what it was but her detail training and her gut were telling her it wasn't good. As she slowly made her way back to the squad room, she was suddenly stopped because of an eerie silence coming from the room. Approaching with caution, Kate made her way down the hall and close enough to the squad room that she could see in without being seen. For a moment she thought she was being ridiculous and over acting over what was probably nothing but once she saw inside the room, she thought otherwise. In front of her was the entire building sitting on the floor with three men standing near the window. Squinting, Kate tired to make out who the men were but she was too far away to see their faces. Kate scanned the room trying to find Tony, Gibbs and McGee and anyone else she knew. As soon as she looked over at Tony's desk, she saw Tony sitting with Gibbs, McGee and Abby but what freaked her out was when she was the President sitting with Mark not far from Abby and McGee.

"Oh God" she mumbled under her breath and quickly took a couple of steps backward and ran down the hall, hoping to figure out a way to save them. She hadn't been running long when she ran around a corner and full on ran into Ziva, knocking them both backwards and to the floor.

"What the hell are you doing?" Ziva asked with great frustration in her voice as she angrily looked across at Kate.

"Ziva, there's a serious problem here" Kate panted, out of breath and in a panic.

"Uh duh, I'm in the same room as you" Ziva snapped and got up off the floor, not even bothering to extend a hand to help Kate up.

Kate, still panicking from what she knew, got up off the floor and said something she never thought she'd have to say.

"I need your help"

Ziva looked shocked at Kate's statement but started to walk away.

"Ziva!" Kate whispered forcefully "I said I needed your help"

"Why are we whispering?" Ziva snapped but curious at the same time.

"Because there's…" Kate began but stopped suddenly when she heard footsteps "quick hide!" she whispered and pulled Ziva into a storage closet at the corner of the hallway.

"What the?" Ziva whispered by stopped when she was the fear in Kate's eyes and both women looked through the side of the door between the hinges and saw Rick walking past, searching for something. Kate gave Ziva a quick side glace which seemed to say "I'll explain when he goes" but looked back through the door when she realised that the situation wasn't going to be that simple. Instead of leaving, Rick pulled out a portable radio and pressed the side button.

"I can't find them" he said into the device.

"Well look harder, they have to be here somewhere!" came a voice from the speaker, which made Kate gasp. It was Brian's!

"But I've searched the entire floor and the one above us and I can't find them anywhere" Rick whined into the radio "Nick is searching the lower floors but he can't seem to find them anywhere either"

"Look, the building is in lockdown which means that they _are_ in the building" said Brian's voice from the radio "The problem is I've trusted you two to find them which has obviously been a mistake. How hard could it be to find a bloody Jew and everyone's little Princess?"

At that statement Kate felt Ziva tense up and worried that she'd blow their cover but Ziva remained silent and instead mumbled something so low under her breath that Kate couldn't make out what it was, so she was pretty sure that the man outside their door didn't hear it.

Rick sighed and said into the radio "I'll find them" and walked off down the hall and out of sight.

Once they were sure that he was gone, Kate and Ziva emerged from the closet. Kate was still a little freaked out by that close encounter and Ziva was fuming.

"How dare he insult me like that" she spat "I'm gonna kill him"

"Ziva" Kate said and grabbed Ziva by the shoulders "they have everyone hostage upstairs"

"What!" Ziva exclaimed.

"I saw three men, who I can now guess is Brian and two accomplices, standing in front of what looks like the entire building sitting on the floor in the squad room" Kate explained "we can assume everyone's unarmed because there's no way that Brian would leave them with weapons so it makes us the only two people with weapons excluding our intruders"

Ziva stood shocked at what was going on; never in a million years would she have expected one of the President's men to be involved in something like this.

"What do we do?" Ziva asked putting her hatred for Kate aside so as they could save the rest of the people in the building.

"I don't know," Kate sighed "We have no chance against that many men by ourselves"

"So we need a way to get back up into the building," Ziva said understanding where Kate was going with this "How do we do that?"

Just before Kate could answer Ziva heard someone coming around the corner heading in their direction.

"Hide" Ziva said and started pushing Kate towards the closet they had just come out of.

"There won't be enough time for both of us to get in," Kate replied noticing that there was barely enough room for her since they had moved stuff around as they had left "You get in, I'll be fine"

"Just go" Ziva snapped and before Kate knew what was happening Ziva had pushed her into the closet and shut the door behind her just as Rick came back around the corner continuing his search.

"Ah the Jew," Rick said smugly as he saw Ziva turn and notice he was behind her "I knew I'd find you eventually"

"Yes well I've been here the whole time" Ziva replied keeping her cool.

"Don't lie I walked past here before and you weren't here" Rick answered annoyed that Ziva was trying to pull the wool over his eyes.

"Obviously you didn't look well enough" Ziva said daring Rick to bite.

"Where is Agent Todd?" Rick asked changing the subject before he did something he would regret.

"I don't know who you're talking about" Ziva replied with a hint of sarcasm.

"Oh really," Rick sniggered "I seriously doubt that"

Ziva quickly glanced towards the closet and regretted it immediately as Rick saw this and a huge smile crossed his face.

Rick walked over to the closet and was just about to open the door when Ziva came up behind him and pushed him aside causing him to hit his head on the wall.

"BITCH" Rick yelled as he got up before he hit Ziva in the face sending her sprawled across the floor.

Still holding the side of his face Rick glared at Ziva who was recovering from his blow and opened the door to the closet.

* * *

Kate listened intently to what was going on outside, she desperately wanted to help Ziva but there was no point both of them being captured, they couldn't help at all then.

Kate gasped as she heard Rick coming towards the closet and desperately looked for a way to escape. Kate glanced up at the roof and saw a vent just big enough for her to get through and if her guess was right it led down to just before the stairs to get up to the squad room.

Kate was suddenly distracted by noises outside and knew that Ziva had just tried to prevent Rick from finding her and that she had earnt a punch for her troubles.

Kate climbed up on some of the boxes that were on the floor and pulled the lid off the vent before she clambered into and started crawling frantically away from where Rick was.

"Hang on Tony" Kate whispered under her breath desperately hoping that she could find help in time a prevent anyone from getting hurt or killed.

* * *

"DAMN IT" Rick yelled seeing the vent open and no sign of Kate. Ziva couldn't help but smile at Kate's escape, if anyone could get help with this mess it was her.

"Brian," Rick said into his radio which he had pulled out of his pocket immediately after he saw that Kate was gone "I've got the Jew but Agent Todd escaped"

"How the hell did that happen?" Brian snapped causing Rick to hold the radio away from his ear.

"She went through the ventilation system," Rick replied "God knows where that leads"

"Bring Agent David down here," Brian said and Ziva could hear the annoyance in his voice "Shaun can keep looking for Agent Todd"

Rick Put his radio away and moved across to Ziva.

"Get up," he snapped "Brian wants to deal with you himself"

Ziva used the wall to support herself and slowly got to her feet desperately wanting to beat the living daylights out of this guy but knowing it wouldn't do her any good.

"Weapons" Rick said holding out his hand and using his other hand to point his gun at Ziva.

Ziva sighed and pulled her gun out from its holster and handed it to Rick.

"Right let's go" Rick said a pushed Ziva towards the squad room.

Ziva smirked as she thought of the small knife that she always kept with her and that Rick had failed to get a hold of, this would be her way out and her way of helping the rest of her team.

* * *

Kate was exhausted by the time she reached the first opening in the vent, it was hot and it took a lot of effort to pull her body through the small metal pipes.

Kate looked down and gasped at what she saw, she couldn't believe it and immediately jumped down from the vent and burst into action.


	54. Chapter 54: Goodbye DiNozzo

Kate ran down the hall and ran to the bottom of the stairs where she saw Antonio's body lying on the ground, covered in blood.

"ANTONIO!" Kate cried "WAKE UP!"

Even though she really hated the guy, she didn't want to see him die. She rolled him over and took notice of where most of the blood was coming from and placed her hands on his chest and began applying pressure but at the rate of which Antonio's blood was flowing out, she doubted that this was going to do any good. She just kneeled there and prayed that something was going to end all this and save them soon.

* * *

Ziva tried to struggle as Rick brought her upstairs and into the squad room where about 31 pairs of scared eyes and 4 pairs of eyes that showed little to no emotion were suddenly drawn to her presence. Ziva looked around and saw Gibbs, Tony, McGee and Abby were all sitting near McGee's desk on the floor. She then turned to her right and was suddenly face to face with Brian.

"Why Officer David, nice of you to join us" he said coldly "what took you so long?"

Ziva thought for a moment about saying something witty and sarcastic in retaliation but knew better so stood up straighter and said nothing.

"So you're not going to say anything are you?" Brian said, trying to keep his cool because as happy as he was to see that Rick had brought back Ziva, he was more interested in getting to Kate.

"Well then I might just have to persuade you into talking to me" and with a quick motion, he spun around and fired his weapon in the direction of Tony, narrowly missing his head. This of course got the reaction out of Ziva that Brian wanted as she let out a quick and high pitched yelp.

"Geez you people are so predictable" Brian laughed "so other than the obvious fact that you're also in love with Mr. DiNozzo here, what else are you hiding from me?"

"I don't know what you're talking about" Ziva said coldly, not giving Brian any eye contact.

"Oh yes you do?" Brian corrected her "where is she?"

Ziva tried to look as confused as she could. She knew exactly who he was referring to but she wasn't going to be that much of a heartless person and tell him where she was.

"Who?" Ziva said, being deliberately vague.

"Don't play dumb with me" Brain threatened, getting closer to Ziva "where the bloody hell is she?"



"You'll have to be more specific. There are many 'she's' in the room" Ziva said sarcastically, realising that she probably shouldn't be sarcastic right now after she had said it.

This pushed the wrong button "WHERE IS CAITLIN TODD?" Brian bellowed loudly into Ziva's face.

"I don't know" Ziva said and turned away but had to turn back to watch Brian start to snigger to himself.

"You surprise me David" he said, in a very creepy sort of manner "I don't know what to be more surprised at. The fact that I can see through your training, which isn't much of a compliment to your trainer or the fact that you're lying to protect someone you despise so much"

After hearing this statement, there was restless in the room. Everyone knew how much Ziva hated Kate. Even those who had nothing to do with them knew and everyone was speechless while watching Ziva say nothing.

"So here is the deal. You tell me where she is _now_ and I won't lose my temper and accidentally kill someone" Brian said calmly "understand?"

Ziva took a small gulp but remained silent.

"Fine. You've made your decision" and Brian turned to aim his gun at Tony. Ziva clenched her teeth, trying to refrain from saying something but somehow it wasn't working and if it wasn't for what happened next, she would have folded and said everything.

* * *

Kate tried desperately to stop the flow of blood coming out from Antonio's chest but there was just so much that she was powerless in trying to stop it.

Suddenly Antonio moved and opened his eyes.

"Antonio!" Kate cried in a whisper "Can you hear me?"

Antonio moved his lips slightly and sighed before saying something so quietly that Kate had to lean towards his mouth to hear him.

"Who...are...you?" he said, struggling to get each word out.

"I'm the mistake your son is dating" Kate said, trying to be sympathetic but she knew saying that was the only way that Antonio would know who she was.

"I'm...sorry" he stuttered "what...happened?"

"You were shot" Kate explained "but it's going to be ok. We're going to get out of this"

"No...We...won't" Antonio said "I'm...not...getting out...of this...but...you...can"

"I'm not leaving you" Kate said forcefully "not to die"

"Can...I...ask you...a...question?" Antonio asked, slowly bringing his hand up and placing it on Kate's.



"Umm I guess" Kate replied not exactly sure what Antonio could possibly need to ask at this moment.

"Do you love my son?" Antonio said gripping Kate's hand tighter as a wave of pain passed through him.

"This isn't really the time to discuss this" Kate said not in the mood for talking about her feelings at this present time.

"Please I need to know…." Antonio pleaded stopping when he realised he didn't know this woman's name.

"Kate" Kate said finishing his sentence.

"If you love him Kate you'll leave me and save him" Antonio said looking Kate straight in the eyes to prove he was serious.

"What……no way," Kate exclaimed "I can't just leave you here to die"

"You and I both know I'm dead anyway" Antonio answered with difficulty as it was getting harder to talk through the pain.

"You don't know that" Kate said not wanting Antonio to die.

"Yes I do Kate," Antonio replied "The pain isn't as bad now and that can't be a good thing"

Kate was about to reply when she heard a noise coming from the stairs in front of her.

"Hurry," Antonio whispered "If you don't go now they'll catch you and then nobody will get out"

Kate sighed as she realised Antonio was right and slowly pulled her hands away from his wound.

Antonio nodded in approval and said "Anthony could do worse than you"

Kate smiled as she realised that this was the closest she was going to get to Antonio saying he was happy Tony was with her. Kate rose to her feet and was about to leave when Antonio stopped her.

"Wait," Antonio said as loudly as he could causing Kate to turn her attention back to him "Tell Anthony I'm sorry and I….I love him"

Tears started to roll down Kate's cheeks as Antonio fell into unconsciousness again and Kate could see that he was no longer breathing.

Kate turned and ran back down the hall and around the corner just as one of Brian's men appeared at the top of the stairs.

* * *

"Brian," Ryan yelled "come look at this"

Brian put his gun away and threw Ziva onto the floor.

"What is it?" he replied annoyed that he had been interrupted. Brian walked to the top of the staircase and looked down at where Antonio's body was lying.

"Did you call me over just to tell me that that guy was dead?" Brian asked not believing one of his men could be so stupid.

"No," Ryan answered pointing at a blood trail on the floor "look he's been moved"



Brian looked down and where Ryan was pointing and noticed that there was a smear of blood on the floor where Antonio had been dragged.

"Ah Kate I didn't think you had it in you" Brian said so the rest of the room could hear.

"What are you talking about?" Tony piped up reacting at the mention of Kate's name.

"Well Saint Kate left your father to die" Brian smirked knowing he would get a reaction.

"No way," Tony exclaimed "Kate wouldn't do that"

Brian just smiled and gave Tony a knowing look that had him doubting whether or not Brian was lying.

It then suddenly hit Tony what else Brian had said.

"Did you just say my father was dead?" Tony asked dreading Brian's reply.

"Ah so you were listening" Brian replied sarcastically.

"You're lying" Tony snapped not wanting to believe his only living relative was now dead.

"You can come and look for yourself" Brian answered motioning for Ryan to bring Tony over.

Ryan walked over and pulled Tony to his feet; Tony walked over to the top of the stairs and looked down. His face went a ghostly shade of white as he saw his father's body lying at the bottom of the stairs.

Brian smiled at this and motioned for Ryan to take Tony back over to the rest of his team.

Tony sat back down silently next to Gibbs who was watching him with a look of concern hoping that this wouldn't make him do something stupid.

* * *

Kate ran down one of the halls and into the closest room she could find which happened to be the seminar room. Kate looked round frantically and was relieved when she saw that there was a phone in the room.

Kate rushed over to the phone and dialled in the FBI's number.

"Hello Forensic Bureau of Investigations" a voice said on the other end of the phone.

"Hello this is Agent Caitlyn Todd I need to speak with Agent Fornell immediately" Kate said quickly into the phone.

"Just one moment" the voice said and Kate could hear herself been transferred.

"FBI Agent Tobias Fornell" came Fornell's voice and Kate couldn't believe that she had been put through.

"Fornell, it's Kate," Kate exclaimed "I need your help"

"What's going on?' Fornell asked suddenly more enthusiastic in his tone.

"NCIS is under siege, Brian has everyone held up in the squad room at gun point" Kate explained.

"What! How is that possible?" Fornell gasped.

"I have no idea" Kate panicked "but it's happening and you need to send someone..." but before Kate could finish, the phone was cut short.

'This can't be good' Kate thought to herself.

* * *

Brian looked around the room. He had Rick and Ryan looking for Kate while Shaun and Nick stayed with him. With the building in lockdown, he knew that there was no where for Kate to run and she'd soon stuff up. No one was that good.

Suddenly, Tony's computer started to make a beeping noise and suddenly it was performing a trace on something.

"What's going on?" Tony whispered to Gibbs "my computer doesn't randomly start performing traces. That's McGee's"

"I don't know" Gibbs whispered back, surprised that Tony was actually saying something.

"Ah interesting" Brian said and made his way over to Tony's desk and stared at the screen.

"What's going on Brian?" Gibbs demanded.

"you don't seem in a position to be demanding something Agent Gibbs but if you must know, I've put a trace on every phone in NCIS" Brian explained proudly "and it'd appear that Miss Todd is using a phone in seminar room 1" and with that he gave a quick nod to Shaun who picked up his radio and told Rick and Ryan where to find Kate.

Tony began to panic. They knew where Kate was and she didn't know that they were coming. He had to do something and when he turned to Gibbs, Ziva, McGee and Abby he knew they thought the same. He just hoped that they'd figure out something before it was too late.


	55. Chapter 55: Kate's final battle!

Kate frantically looked around the room hoping to find somewhere to hide because she knew that the phone being cut off meant that she had been found and it would be a matter of time before Brian's men came looking for her, if they weren't already.

As Kate anxiously looked around the room and not watching her step, she tripped over the leg of a chair and fell to the ground, landing on something hard on her hip. _Her gun!_ She had totally forgotten that she was even armed. Although this made the situation slightly more even that it was before, she still had the problem of being outnumbered by Brian's men.

Suddenly she heard very loud footsteps coming down the hall in her direction. Quickly going through several plans of attack in her head, Kate's end decision due to lack of time was positioning herself in front of the door, weapon drawn.

Rick and Ryan made their way towards the seminar room rather quickly, not wanting to give her the chance to escape again. Just as they reached the seminar room and Ryan placed a hand on the door handle, Brian's voice was blasted from the radio.

"RICK, RYAN GET BACK HERE NOW!" came his voice bellowing from the radio.

"Why?" Rick asked, placing the radio near his mouth.

"JUST DO AS I SAY!" Brian demanded, sounding like he was being distracted.

"But we've just reached the room with Agent Todd" Rick explained "do we get her first?"

"NO!" Brian yelled "GET BACK HERE NOW!" and suddenly he stopped yelling and all the two men could hear was static.

"What do you think is going on?" Ryan asked, taking his hand off the door handle.

"Not sure. My best guess is someone has done something stupid and Brian needs us as back up" Rick guessed.

"I bet you it was either DiNozzo or Agent Gibbs" Ryan said "but whatever it is, it must be bad for Brian calling us back without Todd"

Rick nodded and both men made a hasty exit back towards the squad room.

Kate took a huge sigh of relief but realised what must be happening for Brian to re-call his men when they were so close to finding her. So, gun still in her hand, Kate made her way slowly out of the room and ran towards the stairwell, finding an alternate route to the squad room. Hopefully she wasn't going to be too late because if she lost Tony, she would die all over again.

* * *

Gibb's and his team watched anxiously as Rick and Ryan walked away leaving just Brian, Nick and Shaun in the room. Everyone knew that this would be their best chance to get out of this alive and this may also be the only chance they would get.

Gibb's looked at Ziva and tried silently to ask if she was armed, Ziva nodded and motioned to her ankle.

Gibbs then looked to Tony and McGee who both nodded as well letting Gibb's know they understood what he wanted them to do.

Gibbs put up his hand and indicated to Tony, McGee and Ziva that they would act in 3…2…1.

Before Brian or his two men knew what hit them Gibbs, McGee and Ziva had jumped to their feet and tackled both men to the ground. Tony got up slowly and worked on getting all the hostages out of the building.

McGee had managed to get Shaun to the ground but was struggling to keep him there. Shaun still had a firm hold of his gun and was trying to hit McGee with it in an attempt to free himself.

The situation wasn't much different for Gibbs who was trying to disarm Nick and Ziva gone after Brian. Brian had managed to get free of her grasp and was now calling for help on his radio.

"RICK, RYAN GET BACK HERE NOW!" Brian bellowed into the radio.

"JUST DO AS I SAY!" Brian demanded, fending off and attack from Gibbs.

"NO!" Brian yelled "GET BACK HERE NOW!" before Brian could say anymore Ziva had kicked the radio out of his hand and pulled her hidden knife out from its holster at her ankle.

Brian smirked and said smugly "Should've known you'd have something like that hidden away"

Ziva just smiled back and swiped at Brian with her knife. Brian dodged the attack and noticed his gun lying only a few feet away from him. Ziva also saw this and punched Brian clean in the face sending him flying a few more metres away from his gun.

"Bitch" Brian snapped getting to his feet with hatred in his eyes.

Before Ziva could reply she heard a grunt of pain behind her, Ziva turned around and noticed McGee sitting on the ground holding his nose that was now bleeding and Shaun standing above him still armed.

* * *

Kate ran up the stairs and noticed Rick and Ryan standing at the doorway with their guns aimed into the squad room. Kate pulled out her gun and crept up behind them.

"Damn it I can't get a clear shot" Rick said trying to get a shot at Ziva without risk of shooting Brian.

"Just shoot somebody else then" Ryan replied.

Kate waited until she was right behind Rick before she used her gun and bashed it on the back of his head just hard enough to knock him unconscious.

The sudden noise caused Ryan to turn and as he did so he was met with Kate's fist in his face and her gun into the side of his head.

Once Kate was sure the two men were unconscious she kicked their guns out of reach and entered the squad room.

Brian used the distraction to his advantage and made a swift but hard kick into Gibb's stomach who had moved from Nick to Brian, sending him winded into the foetal position on the floor.

Ziva turned back around just in time to see Brian make a dash for his gun; Ziva acted immediately and threw her knife at him.

Brian yelled in pain as Ziva's knife landed in his thigh causing him to drop to the floor.

Ziva quickly turned her attention back to Shaun who was now advancing on Tony, who was just getting the last of the hostages out of the room.

"TONY BEHIND YOU" shouted a voice from behind Brian.

Brian looked painfully to his right and saw Kate standing there gun in her hand looking at the scene that was unfolding.

Tony looked up and was instantly relieved to find that Kate was alive and that Brain's men hadn't gotten to her. Tony's relief soon turned to worry when he saw Brian pick up his gun and fire in Kate's direction.

Without even waiting to see whether or not she had been hit Tony left the last remaining hostages and started to run towards the doorway that Kate was in.

Suddenly Tony felt himself falling as Shaun grabbed him and threw him into a desk causing a sharp pain to run through his shoulder and back.

One of the last hostages was Mark and at seeing Tony on the ground he ran towards Shaun not exactly knowing what he was going to do against an armed man.

Before Mark even got to Shaun, Brian had again fired and hit Mark square between the eyes killing him instantly.

Kate slowly got back to her feet, she had dived to the floor to avoid Brain's bullet and it had only missed her by millimetres.

As Kate looked around the room she saw Tony and McGee both on the ground and Mark dead on the floor. Kate decided she had had enough and rushed into the room.

Ziva in all the commotion had managed to make her way over to Shaun unnoticed and was now stuck in a fight with him using any skill she had learned in the Mossad to aid her.

Kate rushed at Brian and kicked the gun out of his hand, Brian reacted by pulling Ziva's knife out of his thigh and swiping at Kate's legs. Kate jumped backwards to avoid it and kicked Brian in the face dazing him slightly.

Kate looked up and quickly scanned the room. It was in that split second that she had noticed that Nick was no longer in the room which could only end badly. Kate then quickly turned to face Ziva and with a few quick and fancy moves Kate saw that Shaun had gotten the upper hand and was now aiming his gun directly at Ziva's head, who was lying on the floor, slightly dazed. Kate pulled out her weapon and completely ignoring Brian fired and Shaun fell lifelessly to the floor.

Ziva turned around and looked up from the floor to face Kate. She couldn't believe that Kate had risked her life to save her and for a brief moment Kate and Ziva looked at each other and realised that maybe they could make their friendship work, for the sake of everyone else. However, the few seconds of lost concentration cost Kate dearly when she suddenly heard a loud bang and a sharp pain sweep through her body as she fell to the floor.


	56. Chapter 56: Is it really over?

Suddenly the room went dead silent and everyone stopped what they were doing as half a dozen pairs of eyes turned in Kate and Brian's direction the moment they heard the gun shot and Kate's scream and watched her fall to the floor, hitting Ziva's desk as she fell. Brian was standing there grinning from ear to ear and it wouldn't have taken a genius to realise that he had shot her.

"KATE!" Tony screamed from his position on the floor, where he had remained since Shaun had smashed him into the desk and most likely dislocated his shoulder "KATE ARE YOU OK?"

But Kate didn't respond to Tony's cries and remained in the same position on the floor. Tony frantically got up of the floor and ran towards Kate's body on the floor, ignoring the shooting pain sweeping through his shoulder.

But just as Tony dropped to the ground and was inches from Kate, he heard the sound of a gun being readied and pointing in his direction. He turned his head to face Brian standing over him, gun pointed directly at his face.

"Move another muscle and I shoot you" Brian threatened, greatly pissed off by the sudden turn of events.

Glad that he now had everything back in his control he motioned for his three remaining men to round everyone back into the middle of the room as he looked around the room and the mess the chaos had caused. He could see at least 8 bodies lying around the room belonging to NCIS agents, civilians and the bodies of his ex co-worker Mark and one of his men Shaun and shook his head. Not exactly how he was planning things but he shrugged as he accepted it might as well do.

As Rick, Ryan and Nick were gathering everyone up again Brian noticed that Tony had not moved from Kate's body.

"Agent DiNozzo that means you too" Brian said in a very ticked off tone considering he wasn't in the mood for this.

Tony didn't even bother to look up as he stroked Kate's hair off her forehead so he could see her face. He just stared at her for what seemed like forever, taking in every detail he could, noticing the blood from her gunshot wound staining the carpet around her chest area.

Brian rolled his eyes and prepared himself to shoot Tony. "I'm not in the mood DiNozzo" he stated bluntly "so I'm not going to beg for you to move. I really couldn't give a crap if you live or die so shooting you is not going to bother me in the least"

Tony looked up at Brian, tears in his eyes and said with as little emotion as he could "go ahead shoot me. You've already killed me" and turned back to face Kate.



Brian rolled his eyes and without moving his head, he turned his eyes to face his hostages. All of them were as lifeless as one could be. No one was moving. No one was saying anything and all were staring at the ground in complete silence. He liked it.

But just as suddenly as the riot had started, something else happened that put yet another damper on his spirits.

A loud voice, amplified by a megaphone_,_ was yelling from the outside "This is the FBI. We have you surrounded. Release the hostages and come out with your hands up!"

Suddenly a rush of hope swept through everyone at NCIS. Although they usually didn't count on the FBI to save the day, they were desperate.

Gibbs looked around at his agents and then to Brian, who he could see was starting to get uneasy. Obviously he hadn't planned for the FBI to turn up.

That was the last straw for Brian. In a matter of seconds he stormed up to Tony, grabbed him by the arm and forcefully threw him to the ground with everyone else and called his three men to stand with him. Ziva looked at the four men standing in a straight line. She had seen scenes like this before. They were going to kill everyone and make a break for it. Normally Ziva wasn't scared in situations like this but it was when she was alone. Not just because there were people she cared deeply for involved this time but because she had a secret boyfriend in her life that no one knew about and the thought of not seeing him again _was _scaring her.

Brian stood in the middle of the line and pointed his gun directly at Tony.

"Goodbye DiNozzo" he said coldly and moved his finger to pull the trigger. Tony closed his eyes and waited for the familiar feeling of a bullet piercing his body but all he heard was a loud bang not followed by the sharp pain of a bullet. This caused Tony to open his eyes and look up and stare in shock of what just happened.

Instead of Brian shooting Tony, Brian was lying on the floor, a bullet sized hole in his back and blood seeping out. Brian's three men stood there in surprise. This wasn't meant to happen and they panicked and ran out of the room, hoping to find an escape exit before the FBI caught them. Everyone looked around the room for the person who had shot Brian but it was Tony who first saw their savour. Kate was slowly getting off the ground where she had been laying, holding her gun in her right hand, slightly dazed.

Tony rushed over to her and threw his good arm around her and hugged her tight.

"I thought I lost you" he whispered, starting to get quite emotional.

"Nah you're not lucky enough" Kate snickered back and returned Tony's hug.

"That's not funny Kate," Tony replied "I'm being serious, you're my world and if I lost you I'd die"

"You did once" Kate sighed almost blushing from Tony's very public display of affection.

Tony brushed his hand across Kate's face before saying "and I died then, I'm not going to lose you again"

Kate and Tony stood holding each other for what seemed like hours when Tony suddenly remembered Kate getting shot. Tony pushed Kate away gently and looked frantically for the source of her blood.

"What's wrong Tony?" Kate asked worried.

"He shot you," Tony exclaimed "where did he shoot you?"

Kate felt a sharp pain in her arm and motioned there, Tony looked at it and was glad to see that it wasn't that deep but he knew she'd still require surgery to get the bullet out.

"Seriously I'm fine Tony," Kate said staring into Tony's eyes "just a flesh wound"

Knowing that Kate was ok took away all his adrenalin and he was suddenly aware of the sharp shooting pain going through his shoulder and back. Tony grabbed his shoulder with his good arm and grimaced in pain.

"Tony you ok?" Kate asked getting worried as she saw how hard Tony hit the desk.

"Yeah fine," Tony replied through gritted teeth "I think I dislocated my shoulder"

Kate nodded and pulled of her jacket ignoring the pain it caused her arm, Kate gently took hold of Tony's bad arm and started to make a sling out of her jacket.

* * *

Ziva walked over to where McGee was sitting with tissues over his nose with his head leaning forwards.

"You ok?" Ziva asked placing her hand on McGee's back.

McGee nodded and didn't say anything as talking made his nose hurt more; he pretty much assumed it was broken. Before Ziva could say anything else there was a large crash and everyone in the room turned to see the FBI breaking down the door to the squad room.

At seeing that there were only the hostages left in the room Fornell entered and ordered his team to lower their weapons.

Gibbs left his position of making sure Abby, Ducky and Palmer were okay and walked over to where Fornell was standing.

"You all ok?" Fornell asked when Gibbs stopped in front of him.

"Yeah were fine," Gibbs replied "what took you so long?"

"We couldn't just barge in and risk all the hostages' lives," Fornell explained "we only came in now because we heard a gunshot"

"Wow that's comforting" Gibbs snapped sarcastically.

Fornell ignored Gibbs' comment and continued "there is an ambulance waiting outside if any one needs medical attention"

Gibbs nodded and made his way over to where Kate and Tony were standing.

* * *

"Is that any better?" Kate asked after she had finished putting Tony's arm in a sling.

"A little" Tony replied shifting his arm uncomfortably.

"Go outside you two, there's an ambulance waiting" came Gibbs' voice from behind them.

Kate and Tony turned just in time to see Gibbs walking away from them and towards McGee and Ziva.

"Shall we?" Tony asked linking his good arm in Kate's good arm and leading her out of the squad room.

* * *

"Seriously Gibbs I'm fine," Ziva explained "I don't need to see the paramedics"

The truth was that Ziva wasn't fine she had a pounding headache and a bad black eye but she had organised for her boyfriend to meet her and she wanted to be there when he arrived.

"I'm not arguing with you Ziva, now take McGee and go before he permanently stains the carpet" Gibbs snapped and walked off not wanting to hear anymore excuses from Ziva.

Ziva sighed and grabbed McGee by the arm and helped him to his feet.

"Come on lets go" Ziva sighed and supported McGee slightly as they left the squad room.

* * *

Kate and Tony walked outside and squinted as the sunlight hurt their eyes; it had been a few hours since they'd been outside.

"Oh my god Kate are you alright?" came a voice that belonged to a man running frantically towards Kate and Tony.

"Michael what are you doing here?" Kate asked surprised to see her brother.

"Well I saw the whole situation on the news and I knew you were here so I rushed down to see if you were ok" Michael explained.

"Well other than the searing pain in my arm from a bullet I'm fine" Kate said sarcastically grimacing as another shot of pain went up her arm.

Tony noticed this and started to walk away from Michael and towards the ambulance.

"I'm really sorry Michael," Tony yelled over his shoulder "but I have to get Kate to the paramedics ASAP"

"That's ok," Michael yelled back noticing Ziva and McGee coming out of the building "I'll go help Ziva with McGee"

With that Michael walked up to Ziva and helped her support McGee all the way to the ambulance.

* * *

Gibbs paced the room frantically waiting for Fornell's team to come back from their search of the building.

"Well?" Gibbs asked as he saw Fornell and his men returning from looking for Rick, Ryan and Nick.

"We found Nick hiding in the back alley," Fornell explained "but the other two got away some of my men are still sweeping the area but I'd say they're long gone by now"

Gibbs soaked this information in before replying trying to remain as calm as possible "you mean to tell me that there is to criminals on the loose with a serious grudge against my team?"

"I'm afraid so" Fornell sighed knowing what this meant.

Gibbs grunted in frustration and walked off knowing that NCIS wasn't out of the woods yet and it would only be a matter of time before Rick and Ryan got their revenge.


	57. Chapter 57: The Final Tally

Even though everything had ended only a few short hours ago, it still hadn't quite sunk in that it was really over. Gibbs looked around the room at his team. Tony was pacing the waiting room with his arm still in Kate's makeshift sling because he was refusing medical treatment until Kate was out of surgery to remove the bullet in her arm. McGee had a small cast on his broken nose and was being fussed over by a jumpy and greatly concerned Abby. Ziva was standing near the emergency door with a black eye and Ducky was quietly reading an old magazine he found on the table between two chairs. Although each of them were doing their own thing and seemed to be coping, Gibbs knew that the day's events were bringing back memories of the day they saved Kate from Ari only this time, innocent people had died.

Gibbs sighed and walked over to Ducky, the only person not looking like they were going insane with worry and fear.

"How are you Duck?" Gibbs asked his friend, taking a seat.

"Fine Jethro" Ducky answered although Gibbs could tell from the tone of his voice that he too was suffering.

"Liar" Gibbs said with a smirk and leaned his head against the wall. "Will this ever end?" he asked to no one in particular.

"I thought it was?" Ducky said, putting his foot down and turning to face Gibbs.

Gibbs shook his head, not taking it off the wall.

"No its not" Gibbs sighed "what just happened has ended but it'll only happen again" Gibbs sat up and looked Ducky directly in the eyes "they'll never be safe"

"Who Jethro?" Ducky asked in great concern.

"My team" Gibbs explained "I have that many enemy's that my team will never be safe"

Ducky sighed "What happened today wasn't your fault. It had nothing to do with you. Brian was after the President, not you or your team" he explained, hoping to make Gibbs feel better but it failed.

"Today wasn't but what happened to Kate was" Gibbs said quietly, clearly blaming himself.

"You mean Ari don't you?" Ducky asked.

Gibbs nodded and looked to the floor.

"Oh Jethro" Ducky said and put his hand on Gibbs' shoulder "you can't blame yourself for what happened to Caitlin"

"But Ari wanted _me_ to suffer so he ruined her life as well as my team. I then put them in danger when I tried to save Kate. I mean DiNozzo almost died!" Gibbs explained.

"Almost but didn't" Ducky said, correcting him "where is all this coming from?"

Gibbs shrugged his shoulders and said nothing, remaining to look at the floor. It wasn't until Ducky tired to stand up and leave when Gibbs quietly spoke quietly "I can't keep them safe. It doesn't matter if they're revenge on me or it's just a 

normal case. I can't keep my team safe" and he stood up and turned to Ducky "and I shouldn't be team leader if I can't guarantee their safety" and he walked off.

Ducky sighed and got up off his chair and walked over to Tony, who was still pacing the floor.

"Are you alright Tony?" Ducky asked calmly, knowing that it was a stupid question.

"I should be there, I need to be there" was all Tony said.

"Where?" Ducky asked.

"With Kate. What if she dies and I'm not there?" Tony said with panic in his voice.

"She'll be fine" Ducky said, reassuring Tony "the bullet is in her arm. No vital organs there and it missed her main artery. It's a simple procedure and she'll be fine. What you need to do is get someone to look at your shoulder"

"Why?" Tony asked "I know it's dislocated. I don't need a quack to tell me that" and he quickly added with a smile "no offence Ducky"

"None taken" Ducky said with a laugh "but if you're going to continue to pace like that, maybe you should pace outside the right door"

Tony stopped pacing for a second and looked at the door which he was pacing in front of and realised that Ducky was right. He wasn't pacing in front of the theatre doors. He was actually pacing in front of the janitor's closet.

Watching Tony quickly relocate himself, Ducky moved onto his next friend who needed a good talking to.

He was about to go to see McGee but there would be no way that he'd get a word in edgewise with Abby fussing over him the way she was, so he walked over to Ziva who had now repositioned herself in front of the vending machine, doing nothing better than stare at the treats that were in front of her face.

"Officer David..." Ducky started to say but Ziva quickly butted in.

"Don't ask me how I am Ducky because I swear if you do, you'll need someone to ask you how you are"

"Understood" Ducky said "but you know, it's ok to talk"

"I don't talk" Ziva said bluntly and remained glaring at the machine.

"Have you tried?" Ducky asked.

"Nothing to talk about" Ziva said, keeping all her answers short and emotionless.

"I would have thought there would be" Ducky said, casually looking around the room "considering what's happened"

"Look Ducky," Ziva sighed "I know what you're trying to do and I appreciate it but I'm fine really"

"Ziva no matter what you think no one expects you to be a rock and nothing to effect you" Ducky said knowing quite well that something was on Ziva's mind.

Ziva took a deep breath and prepared to tell Ducky how she was feeling after all, she knew she could trust him more than anyone and she knew he wouldn't judge her no matter what.

"I really thought this was it this time" Ziva said looking directly into Ducky's eyes.

"But with your previous profession I thought you would have been in these situations a fair few times" Ducky replied referring to Ziva's time in the Mossad.

"Yeah I was," Ziva answered "but it never gets any easier and I really thought I was going to die this time" Ziva took a deep breath before continuing "not only that but all the other times I've never had anyone else to think about, but throughout this whole ordeal all I could think about was whether or not I was ever going to see my boyfriend again"

"Boy friend?" Ducky asked curious to get more information.

"Oh right," Ziva replied remembering she hadn't actually told anyone yet "we met a few months ago and I started going out with him coz I kinda liked him but today just made me realise for the first time how much I like him"

"Do you love him?" Ducky asked happy that Ziva had finally found somebody.

Ziva stood shocked at the question, she had never thought about it herself before let alone told anyone else about it.

"I think I might Ducky' Ziva sighed.

"If it's not to much would you mind me asking where you two met?" Ducky asked wanting to know more about the man who stole Ziva's heart.

"No not all Ducky," Ziva said politely "we met at work"

"Ah I see," Ducky said "do you know research indicates that most romances start in the workplace?"

"Well that is where we spend most of our time" Ziva replied with a smile.

"So what does this man of your do for a living?" Ducky asked.

"Oh umm he kind of works with dead people" Ziva answered coyly.

At that moment Ziva looked over Ducky's shoulder to see Jimmy Palmer coming down one of the hospital hallways with a bandage on his forearm.

"Excuse me Ducky" Ziva said politely and walked away from Ducky and towards Palmer.

"Hmmm" Ducky mumbled to himself wondering if maybe Palmer could be Ziva's mystery man after all he did fit the description.

* * *

"Jimmy are you alright?" Ziva asked as she came to a stop in front of Palmer.



"Yeah I'm fine," Palmer replied "just a cut, only needed a couple of stitches"

"I didn't even know you were hurt" Ziva exclaimed knowing that it was probably impossible for her to keep track of everything that happened during the siege.

"Yeah well there was that much going on, in the rush to get everyone out of there I got shoved and cut my arm on the corner of one of the desks" Palmer explained casually.

"How are you dealing with everything?" Ziva asked knowing that being held hostage wouldn't be a common occurrence for an ME's assistant.

"I think I'm ok," Palmer replied "a bit shaken up but yeah I'm ok"

"Well to make you feel a little better, let me cook you dinner tonight" Ziva said cheerfully glad that Jimmy was doing ok.

"I didn't know you could cook" Palmer exclaimed shocked at the invitation.

"There's a lot you don't know about me" Ziva jested thinking of how much she had warmed up to the lovable ME over the past few months.

"Well it that case I would be delighted to have you cook me dinner" Palmer said with a smile.

* * *

"Abby seriously I'm fine," McGee said trying to push Abby's hands away from him "it's just a broken nose there's no need to fuss"

"I'm your girlfriend McGee," Abby replied "It's my job to fuss"

McGee was about to protest more when he saw Ducky coming towards them.

"Ducky would you please tell Abby to stop" McGee pleaded.

"Abigail," Ducky said sternly "Timothy is right there is really no need to make such a fuss about a broken nose"

"I know Ducky," Abby sighed getting very serious all of a sudden "but I could have lost him in there and now I'm not letting him out of my sight"

"Well Timothy,' Ducky sighed "sometimes life can be difficult and we just need to live with it and move on"

"Is that your way of telling me to deal with it?" McGee asked annoyed that Abby was getting her way.

"In a way yes" Ducky replied with a smile on his face, he was glad that everyone seemed to be in much better spirits than they were when the tragedy first ended.

* * *

After Ducky had finished talking to everyone ti see if they were alright, he sat down again on a vaccant chair and remembered back to a couple of hours ago when Jenny had come in to tell them just how many innocent people had been killed.

"_What's the final tally Jenny?" Gibbs asked as he saw Jenny enter the hospital._

"_Eight agents, 3 civilians, a secret service agent and two terrorists," Jenny replied with sorrow in her voice "it's a big blow to NCIS"_

"_And their families" Gibbs added._

"_At least another 10 agents were injured and the number of civilians was even more than that" Jenny continued._

"_What about the president?" Gibbs asked not really caring but thought it would be appropriate to ask._

"_He's been taken back to the white house under maximum security until the rest of Brian's men are caught," Jenny explained "he's about to hold a press conference"_

_Gibbs nodded knowing that this meant that Jenny had to go as she would most likely be required to attend the press conference._

"_Thanks for letting me know Jenny" Gibbs said as Jenny headed to the door. Jenny gave a small smile and left the hospital. _

_Gibbs sat down heavily knowing that today had been a huge loss for NCIS and they also had two men on the loose that would most likely be looking for revenge._

Ducky snapped out of his trance just in time to see Kate's surgeon coming out of the theatre doors with a grim look on his face and Ducky feared the worse.


	58. Chapter 58: Kate's Life Changed Forever!

One by one, everyone in the waiting room turned to look at Kate's surgeon, fearing the worst. No one moved forward to ask the question that was playing on everyone's mind, so Gibbs gathered up the courage and asked for them.

"Is she ok?" he asked, greatly concerned.

"Yeah she's fine. Surgery went well" the surgeon said, still having a grave look on his face.

"Then why do you look so worried?" Gibbs asked, his tone changing slightly.

"Oh I'm just thinking of all the paperwork I have to do before my daughter's dance recital tonight" the surgeon answered but quickly realised what everyone must have been thinking.

"Oh sorry" he apologised "I didn't mean to worry you. Agent Todd is fine. Everything went well. The bullet's out and she's in recovery. You can go see her if you like but only one at a time though"

Gibbs nodded and turned to Tony.

"You should go DiNozzo" he said with a quick flick of his head in the direction of the recovery room.

Tony paused for a moment but quietly agreed and made his way towards recovery. Even though it was only a short walk, the hallway towards Kate's room seemed to get longer and longer and it felt like Tony wasn't really going anywhere.

After what seemed like forever, Tony reached a room with a familiar looking figure lying in the bed but although tony wanted to rush in there to see if she was alright, he remained outside the room and watched her sleep.

The doctor that was assigned to Kate for her recovery was walking towards his patient when he noticed Tony at her door and smiled. Taking a few more steps forward he stopped about five metres form Tony and quietly said;

"You can go in if you like"

Tony turned to face the doctor and looked at him without saying anything. The look in his eyes said it all.

"I'm Doctor Death" he said extending his hand.

The expression on Tony's face when the doctor introduced himself was priceless, making Dr. Death chuckle to himself.

"Don't let the name fool you" he said "I actually save more people than I kill" but realised he probably could have phrased what he said differently because Tony looked like he was going to faint.

"I meant...well I don't actually kill people" he said trying to save the situation "I mean I...you know save lots of people and only some people die...only because I can't save them..." but quickly gave up when he realised that there was no way that he could save the conversation.

"any who..." he said, changing the subject "I'm just about to go check on Miss Todd, would you like to come in?"

"Actually I'd rather you not check on her" Tony said, the first thing to come out of his mouth since he heard of his name "I can do it"

"Do you have a medical degree?" Dr. Death asked, smugly.

"Uh no but I did pass my first aid badge in boy scouts" Tony said, clutching at straws.

"Uh huh" was all Dr. Death said and walked into Kate's room, quickly followed by Tony at his heels.

Tony watched as the doctor with the not reassuring name walked over to Kate's bedside and began checking her over.

'When can I meet Dr. Alive or Dr. Givemelotsofmoneysoicanbuyanicenewcar?" he wondered to himself, keeping a safe distance from the doctor.

Tony watched as Dr. Death checked Kate's pulse, checked her arm where the surgery took place and took some notes off her monitor onto her clipboard.

When he was satisfied that everything was in order, he placed the clipboard back on the end of her bed and walked towards Tony.

"Everything's fine. The anaesthetic should be wearing off now so she'll probably wake up in the next couple of minutes"

Tony took one look at "Dr. Death" and wasn't too sure that Kate would.

The doctor smiled and walked past Tony and slowly down the hall.

"If you're still worried I'll send Nurse Careless and she can check on you" and with that, he walked off down the hall.

Tony, still standing at the end of Kate's bed, wasn't to reassured about a 'Nurse Careless' and that feeling didn't exactly go away when the nurse walked in.

"Hi there. I'm Nykole Stevens and I'll be your nurse or well her nurse today" the woman said, introducing herself.

Tony stood there puzzled. "I thought you were Nurse Careless?" he asked.

After hearing that, Nurse Stevens laughed. "I'm assuming Miss Todd's doctor is Dr. Death right?"

"Uh yeah" Tony agreed.

Nurse Stevens just shook her head. "He does this to all his patients while they're still freaking out about his name" she laughed "no one here has the last name Careless"

"So he's not really Dr. Death?" Tony asked, relieved that this was probably all a joke.

"Oh no, his name _really_ is Dr. Death" the nurse answered.

"Uh huh" was all Tony said

"Why on earth would a hospital hire a guy called... uh...?" Tony stopped because he didn't know his first name.

"Iam Death" finished the nurse.

"SERIOUSLY!" Tony cried "his name is I am death?"

"No," corrected the nurse "it's pronounced Ium not I am...his parents had this weird sense of humour and a fancy for weird names"

Tony decided to leave the subject of the doctor's name alone as he knew thinking about it would only make him more worried then he already was.

Tony just nodded before turning to the nurse and saying "So is she really ok?"

The nurse just smiled and replied "Well her surgery was very straightforward, no complications at all and the anaesthetic will be wearing off any minute now…"

The nurse looked at Tony and realised he was looking anxious as she hadn't answered his question yet "yes she will be fine" the nurse added.

A look of relief came across Tony's face and he walked away from the nurse and towards Kate's bed.

Tony sat down in the chair next to Kate's bed and watched her as she slept looking very peaceful. Tony thought about everything that had happened in the past few months as he grasped Kate's hand tightly in his own. He had come so close to losing her twice and he remembered how horrible and useless he had felt. Tony never wanted to feel that again so he made a decision then and there that he would never let Kate risk her life again.

Just as Tony was about to delve deeper into his thoughts he felt a light squeeze on his hand and looked down at Kate's face to see her beautiful brown eyes staring up at him.

"Hey you," Tony whispered careful not to speak to loudly "How are you feeling?"

"Thirsty" Kate mumbled still a little drowsy from the anaesthetic.

Tony lent over to the table beside Kate's bed and picked up a small cup of water and a straw and held it up to Kate. Kate took a drink through the straw and laid her head back down on the pillow.

Kate rolled her head over to face Tony and noticed that he was still wearing the sling which she had made at NCIS.

"Your arm" Kate said motioning to Tony's arm.

"It's fine, Ducky popped it back in for me" Tony replied more worried about Kate then he was about his arm.

"You should get it checked out" Kate said annoyed that Tony was neglecting his own health.

"I said it's fine" Tony said a little more forcefully than intended.

"Your so stubborn" Kate spat back getting frustrated.

"Oh and your not" Tony argued not wanting to fight with Kate right now.

Kate smirked at Tony glad that everything had turned out ok, she didn't know what she would have done if anything happened to him.

"What are you smiling at?" Tony asked.

"Nothing," Kate said "I'm really happy your ok"

"Me too," Tony answered then realising what he said added "for you"

Before Kate could reply they were interrupted by someone clearing their throat behind them.

Tony and Kate turned to face the door and saw Dr Death standing there with a manila folder in his hands.

"Sorry to interrupt," he said "I just bumped into Nurse Stevens before and she said that you were still here"

"Where did she go?" Tony asked he hadn't even noticed that the nurse had left the room.

"Oh she thought she would give you two some privacy" Dr Death said with a smile.

"Not to be rude or anything," Tony said "but then why are you here?"

Dr Death gave Tony a look that Tony was pretty sure meant that no offence was taken by his comment before replying "I just got Miss Todd's blood test results back and I came to discuss the results with her"

Alarm bells went off in Tony's head since when did doctor's do blood tests for bullet wounds.

"Why did you do a blood test?" Tony asked anxiously.

"Well before the surgery Miss Todd told us she had been feeling run down for a few weeks so I told her I would do a blood test just as a precaution" Dr Death explained.

This did nothing to ease Tony's mind as he knew that there was a number of bad and deadly things that being run down could be a symptom of.

"Well what did you find?" Tony asked.

"I'm afraid I can't discuss that with you Mr DiNozzo" Dr Death said very seriously.

"Why the hell not?" Tony exclaimed loudly "I'm her partner"

"I'm sorry Mr DiNozzo," Dr Death replied calmly "but I have to discuss this with Miss Todd only and then it is her choice whether or not to tell you the results or not"

Tony was about to protest when he felt a small squeeze on his hand and looked down to see Kate looking at him pleadingly.

"It's fine Tony," Kate said softly "go and get your arm looked at I promise I will tell you exactly what the doctor said"

Tony was still very reluctant but decided it was pointless arguing with Kate as she would most likely win anyway.

"You'd better" Tony replied in a loving way and walked away from Kate glaring at the doctor as he left the room.

Dr Death waited until he was sure that Tony was gone before he shut Kate's door and walked over to her bedside.

"So what's the verdict?" Kate asked as cheerfully as possible since this could possibly be something bad.

"Well there is a perfectly logical explanation for why you've been so tired lately," Dr Death explained "although there is not a whole lot I can do about it"

"It's really bad isn't it?" Kate answered getting really worried and wondering how the hell she was going to tell Tony.

"Well that depends" Dr Death said trying to hide the smile on his face.

"On what?" Kate replied.

"On how you feel about having a baby" Dr Death said cheerfully assuming this would be happy news for Kate.

"I'M PREGNANT!" Kate exclaimed.


	59. Chapter 59: Short Fuses

"Yes" Dr. Death said, agreeing with her "you are"

Kate then suddenly went quiet and looked down towards the floor. Becoming a mum was something that she had planned on being someday but right now wasn't exactly part of the plan. Right now she was working in the secret service protecting the President of the United States and dating Tony, not married to him. They weren't even living together. It only seemed like it because Tony would come over most nights for dinner and he never really made it home until the next morning.

It wouldn't have taken a genius to work out that this probably wasn't the best news, although Dr. Death couldn't work out why a pregnancy wasn't always good news. So he cautiously made his way towards her bed and said "I take it that it's not good news?"

"Oh no" Kate said, still in a totally different head space "it is, it's just..." but she didn't know where to begin.

"It's not Mr. DiNozzo's is it?" Dr. Death asked.

"NO!" Kate cried, although not meaning it to be so loud "it is really, it's not that" and she sighed, throwing her head back onto her pillow.

Dr. Death was stuck for words. Usually when he told a patient that they were pregnant they were over the moon. Well everyone except this one guy that he told was pregnant because the blood tests got mixed up and that didn't exactly go well but he had always pictured Kate as the maternal type who'd be glad to have children.

"Can I ask why you're not happy?" Dr. Death asked carefully.

"It's not that I'm not happy because I am" Kate began "it's just that the timing isn't exactly the best. I mean how could this have happened?"

Dr. Death suddenly had a funny expression on his face "well there's this little thing called the birds and the bees Miss Todd" he started to explain but Kate cut him off;

"I know about that" she said "I'm not stupid. I just mean, we were always careful and..."

"Did you always use protection?" Dr. Death asked.

"Yes of course..." Kate said but gave a sudden pause which obviously meant they hadn't.

"How many times?" he asked.

"Just once" Kate answered, getting rather embarrassed about sharing her sex life with a doctor called Dr. Death.

"Once is all it takes Miss Todd" Dr. Death explained "now I think, considering the circumstances and recent events, we should organise an ultrasound and make sure everything's ok in there, ok?"



Kate said nothing and nodded, the sudden turn of events not yet sinking in. Dr. Death nodded and walked out of the room and in record time, Tony rushed back in.

"So, what's wrong?" Tony asked rather quickly.

"Nothing to worry about" Kate lied "I'm just a little anaemic. A few iron tablets and a slight change of diet and I'll be as right as rain"

"You sure that's all?" Tony asked, being thorough.

"Yes that's all" Kate said, a wave of guilt sweeping though her. "Now that I'm ok, you need to get your shoulder checked out"

"I can do it later" Tony said with a shrug, which sent a surge of pain through his shoulder.

"No you'll do it now Tony" Kate instructed "it's causing you too much pain. I'm fine here really. The nurse is getting me some lunch so there's nothing to do here and you can't join me until they check out your shoulder so you might as well get it down and over with"

Tony knew that Kate was right, so with a quick kiss on her forehead, he walked out of the room and down the hallway, searching for anyone that didn't have a death related surname.

Once Tony was out of the room, Kate slapped herself in the head with her palm. As much as she wanted to tell Tony about the baby, she couldn't. Not until she got things sorted out first. And besides, the thought of telling Tony in the first place frightened her and she was looking for as many excuses to put it off as possible. Everyone knew about Tony's commitment phobia and his lack of serious girlfriends. The only serious one before her was Jeanne but Tony told her that every time that Jeanne mentioned moving in together or even getting married, it made him have to sudden urge to run. That and the talk about babies were never allowed in the apartment. So how would he react when he finds out that he's going to be a father in 9 months? 'Actually' Kate thought to herself 'it might not be 9 months' she was aware of the fact that they didn't use protection once but important details like the date or even the month were foggy to her, so she could be further along that she though.

As if the doctor could hear her thoughts, he walked back into her room, wheeling the ultrasound machine in front of him.

"Ok ready to see your baby?" he asked in an excited tone. Despite his name being Dr. Death, there was nothing more that he liked more than babies.

"Actually," Kate replied "I'd rather just go home"

"You've just had surgery," Dr Death exclaimed "I'd highly advise against it, I need to make sure your baby is ok"

"I'll come back another day," Kate said quickly "I want to go home"

Dr Death was getting worried Kate's baby could easily be in distress after the days events but he couldn't force Kate to stay.

"Is there anything I can say to change your mind?" Dr Death asked hopefully.

"No" Kate answered.

Dr Death sighed and started to head out of the room "I'll go and get the discharge papers then" he sighed and walked out of the room.

Once Kate was sure he had gone Kate got up out of her bed and started to pull off her hospital gown and get into her normal clothes. Once Kate was fully dressed she placed her hand flat on her stomach and thought about how this baby could ruin her life.

After all how could she protect the president when she was pregnant, Kate would lose her job and worst of all she was positive she would lose Tony. Kate also knew that as soon as she told her mother she would be disowned by her and would lose her family.

"Here you are Miss Todd," Dr Death said as he came back into the room "now you understand that by signing these papers the hospital can't be…."

"Yeah I know," Kate butted in "where do I sign?"

Dr Death pointed to where Kate needed to sign and handed Kate a pen. Kate signed the papers and picked up her bag before hastily leaving the room.

* * *

"Argh," Tony yelled as Dr Reaper popped his shoulder back into place "son of a…"

Tony stopped as more pain shot through his shoulder.

"Ok Mr DiNozzo," Dr Reaper said "That should do it, I'll just have to take you down to X-Ray to make sure you shoulder is in the correct position and then you'll be right to go"

Tony just nodded and got up off the bed which caused a surge of pain through his shoulder.

Dr Reaper noticed this and smiled. "I'll get you something for the pain," he said "but it wouldn't of hurt so much if you'd come in earlier"

Tony grunted and followed the doctor out of his room and down the hallway.

* * *

Kate walked towards the entrance to the hospital and noticed the entire NCIS team sitting there minus Tony, Palmer and Jenny. Kate desperately wanted to go over and see them but she knew as soon as she did she would be inundated with questions and she couldn't handle that right now. Kate took a glance around the room and noticed that her brother Michael had arrived since Tony had come to see her and was now sitting in the corner talking to Ziva, Abby and McGee. Kate was surprised that she didn't feel and hatred for Ziva at this, she had seen Ziva in action during the siege and had come to respect her, Kate hoped in the future they could be friends.

Kate walked up to the reception desk and asked "Is there another way out of here?

The clerk looked at Kate strangely but only smiled and replied "No, is everything alright?"

"Yeah fine," Kate replied "there are just some people in the waiting room that I would rather not see at the moment"

The clerk smiled and fiddled around in her drawer for a minute or two before pulling out a key.

"This key is to the fire escape that isn't in use anymore," the clerk explained "take it and open the door and go down the stairs you'll end up right near the hospital car park, give the key to one of the ambulance officers and they can return it to me"

"Thanks" Kate answered and took the key from the clerk before rushing down the hallway.

"No problem, have a nice day" the clerk yelled after Kate as she walked down the hallway.

* * *

Tony hummed as he walked down the hall back towards Kate's room, everything was going great. He had a great partner who was completely in love with and they had managed to not make it through not one but two life or death situations.

Tony knew from everything that had happened that Kate would be the woman he was going to marry, this was a big thing for Tony as he had never even entertained the idea of getting married and having children but now he would love nothing more than to do both with Kate.

Tony's mind started to wander he suddenly remembered how cosy Ziva and Palmer had looked after he had come in. Tony knew Ziva was seeing someone, he had noticed how happy she had been lately and that she had been late a couple of mornings and arrived in the same clothes she was wearing the day before. Tony almost laughed out loud at the idea that Ziva's man could be Palmer but seeing them together today made Tony wonder.

Tony's train of thought was interrupted when he noticed that he was outside Kate's room.

Tony walked through the doorway and immediately yelled "Shit" when he saw that Kate and her stuff was gone.

"Have you seen Kate?" Tony exclaimed as he ran into the waiting room.

"Nice to see you too Tony" Ziva said sarcastically from her spot sitting next to Michael. Michael however, didn't really notice Tony's entrance. He was too busy staring at Abby with a funny expression on his face. Even though Kate had told him heaps of times about Abby and her Goth-like ways, it still amazed him to see her in her school girl outfit. Not that he minded much though.



"Ziva, I'm not in the mood for jokes" Tony said in a blunt sort of tone. All he wanted to do was go home with Kate and go to bed.

"Sorry Tony" Ziva apologised "I haven't seen her. As far as I'm aware she'd be in her room considering she just woke up from surgery"

"That's what I assumed" Tony agreed.

"And she's not there?" Michael said, spinning around in Tony's direction.

"Well if she was there I wouldn't be asking" Tony snapped "what are you even doing here Michael? You weren't involved"

Michael was a little taken back from Tony's sharp comment.

"I'm here for Kate" he snapped back "you know, my _sister_"

"We don't need you" Tony retaliated "we're fine by ourselves"

"Oh sure you are" Michael retorted "that's why you can't find her"

At that moment Tony was fully prepared to rip his arm out of the sling and ignore that fact it had been dislocated and punch Michael square in that big head of his if it wasn't for Gibbs reappearing from where ever he went to and holding him back.

"What the hell are you two doing?" Gibbs demanded, keeping a firm grip on Tony.

"Michael's being a jerk" Tony dobbed, although jerk wasn't exactly the word he wanted to use.

"Look," Gibbs said, letting go of Tony but he remained shouting "this is no time to try and kill each other. We just got out of a life and death situation. If I ever hear of anyone using anything less than a normal indoor speaking voice, I will personally clobber the person who does, got it?"

After Gibbs' little outburst, everyone suddenly fell silent and suddenly became interested in the floor. Gibbs looked around at each of them but stopped when he saw Abby slowly and cautiously raised her hand.

"Yes Abby" Gibbs said annoyed.

"Are you going to hit yourself?" she asked quietly.

"Why the hell would I do that?" Gibbs said, voice raised.

"Because that's not a very nice normal indoor speaking voice and you said..." Abby began.

"I don't care what I said" Gibbs bellowed and walked away, giving his earlier thought about resigning from NCIS another thought.


	60. Chapter 60: Smooth Sailing For Now

Abby hopped into the elevator and headed down to her lab. It had been a few hours since everyone was released from hospital which also meant it's been a few hours since anyone had heard from Kate. Not that not hearing from Kate was unusual. Ever since she 'returned from the dead', she occasionally need some alone time to think and go over things so a few hours without hearing anything from her wasn't the part that was worrying people. It was the fact that she rushed out of hospital an hour after waking up from surgery, without warning and somehow avoided everyone making her exit.

As Abby made her way towards her lab, she realised something odd about it. She had just made her way out of the elevator when she noticed that the door to her lab was opened. Not by much, millimetres in fact but enough for Abby to notice.

Abby slowly made her way into her lab, one step at a time. Although she knew that curiosity killed the cat and probably the best thing in a situation like this was not to go in the suspiciously empty and quiet room with the door slightly ajar just after a terrorist attack and with two armed men on the run, but Abby being Abby just had to have a look and went straight ahead.

The room instead of being a noisy place her music blaring in the background and the sound of Gibbs slapping Tony across the back of the head was replaced by a dead eerie silence, which she also kind of liked in a weird sort of way. But it wasn't until she went into her ballistics' lab and saw Kate sitting in the corner of the room, cradling her knee's with her arms.

"Hey Kate" Abby said, as calmly and cautiously as she could "what you doin' here? Everyone's looking for you"

Abby took a couple of steps closer in Kate's direction and knelt down in front of her friend and it was at that moment that she realised that Kate was crying.

"Oh Kate" Abby sighed and leaned forward and hugged her, a gesture that Kate gladly accepted and for a moment there all they seemed to do was hug. It wasn't until Abby actually let go and sat next to Kate, that Kate said anything.

"I don't know what to do" she said between sobs.

"About what?" Abby asked, generally concerned.

"It's nothing" Kate said, wiping tears from her cheek with her fingers.

"Sure I cry over nothing too" Abby said with a shrug of her shoulders. Saying that made Kate give a little laugh.

"you do cry over nothing Abby" she said, cheering up a little "remember when I found you crying just after we first met and you said you were bored and wanted something to do?"

Abby laughed remembering that moment. "Ok probably not the smartest thing I've done but you have to give me credit, I made you cry too"

"Did not" Kate said, straightening up against the wall "I kicked the desk and hurt my toe. It had nothing to do with you"

"Sure you did" Abby smiled "so you gonna tell me what's wrong?"

As fast as the smile had come across Kate's face when she and Abby remembered fond memories, it was gone.

"Kate talk to me" Abby begged "I'm like your best friend. I thought we could tell each other anything"

"We can" Kate agreed.

"Tell talk to me" Abby pleaded "I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong"

Kate sighed, knowing that Abby was right. If there was anyone that she could talk to it was Abby.

"Abby I'm in trouble" Kate explained.

"What did you do?" Abby asked, shocked that Kate could be in trouble.

"It's not what I did, it's more something that's happened that will get me in trouble with more than one person" Kate continued to explain.

"For example?" Abby asked, leading her on.

"Abby I'm pregnant" Kate said bluntly and getting straight to the point.

"You're negligent" Abby said slightly confused "that's probably why you're in trouble"

"No Abby I'm pregnant" Kate said correcting her.

"You're pregnant!" Abby said repeating her "seriously?"

"No I'm lying" Kate lied, rolling her eyes.

"This is sooooo cool!" Abby practically shrieked "how does Tony feel about it, happy huh?"

"Tony doesn't know" Kate said, rather quietly but loud enough for Abby to hear.

"You haven't told him?" Abby asked "why?"

"Because I freaked ok" Kate said, getting emotional again "I didn't know what to do. I mean I didn't exactly plan this"  
"no one plans a pregnancy Kate" Abby said, sounding very professional "even when they're trying to get pregnant no one can predict when they _will_ get pregnant. It just happens when it happens"

"Since when did you know all this?" Kate asked, not looking up from the floor.

"Since I read pregnancy one in the hospital waiting room" Abby answered, pretty pleased with herself.

"Why were u reading that?" Kate asked confused as to why Abby would be reading a pregnancy book.

"Well I thought it would be interesting to see what range of magazines the hospital waiting room had" Abby explained.

"Mmmm Hmmm" Kate answered knowingly.

"Ok fine," Abby sighed "It was the only magazine there but this isn't about me it's about you"

Kate just looked back down at the ground and placed her head in her hands.

"You know if you're this unhappy about it, there are options" Abby suggested already knowing the answer.

"No I could never do that," Kate exclaimed "besides it's probably too late now anyway"

"Well how far along are you?" Abby asked.

"I don't know" Kate replied.

"Didn't they tell you when they did the ultrasound at the hospital?" Abby said getting increasingly suspicious.

"I never got an ultrasound" Kate mumbled quietly.

"What?" Abby cried "they didn't give you an ultrasound, that's negligence"

"No Abby," Kate explained "I didn't get an ultrasound because I discharged myself before they got a chance to do one"

"Kate are you insane," Abby exclaimed "you got shot and just found out you're pregnant who knows what could've happened to the baby"

"Thanks Abby," Kate said sarcastically "that's so reassuring"

"Look I'm sorry," Abby replied her voice softening a little but still quite serious "It's just I know how upset you would be if anything happened to this baby and frankly I don't want anything to happen to you either"

"Nothings going to happen to me" Kate sighed touched by Abby's concern.

"No it won't," Abby answered "because I'm taking you back to the hospital and you are having that ultrasound"

"But Abby," Kate whined "what if Tony's there? I can't face him at the moment"

"I don't care," Abby replied "I'll drag you there if I have to"

Kate sighed deeply and let Abby help her to her feet. Kate looked down at the ground as Abby led her out of her lab and towards the squad room towards the exit of NCIS.

* * *

"Any sign of her McGee?" Tony asked through the mouthpiece of his phone as he sat in the NCIS squad room.

"No nothing Tony" McGee replied, he had been searching for hours and was getting sick of Tony calling him every 5 minutes.

"Ok well call me as soon as you….." Tony started.

"Yeah Yeah" McGee sighed and hung up.

Tony hung up the phone disappointed, he could understand why McGee had hung up but he was still upset that no one had found Kate yet.

Just as Tony was about to get up and leave he was stopped by his mobile pone ringing.

"Hello" Tony said as he lifted his phone to his ear.

"Hello Mr. DiNozzo," came the young female voice from the other end of the phone "This is Ella Marshall from the Washington Morgue"

"Umm yes" Tony said cautiously not sure what this was about.

"We are just calling to let you know that Mr. Antonio DiNozzo's body is ready to be released so you can make any necessary arrangements" Ella said.

It suddenly hit Tony, his father was dead and he had been too preoccupied to even care. Tony felt horrible he had even forgotten what had happened with his father, how could he do something like that?

"Thankyou" Tony said into the receiver trying to keep his voice from wobbling as he felt tears starting to well in his eyes.

"I'm very sorry for your loss Mr. DiNozzo" Ella said sympathetically before hanging up the phone.

Tony robotically placed his phone back in his pocket and slumped backwards in his chair.

Tony placed his head in his hands and began to cry, he remembered the last time he had lost somebody and how that felt.

"First Jeanne, now my dad" Tony sobbed wondering what he had done to deserve all this heartache.

Tony was so preoccupied in his own thoughts that he didn't even notice Abby and Kate sneak past him and into the elevator.

Tony looked up when he heard the sound of the elevator doors closing but when he didn't see anything he just assumed that he was hearing things.

Tony grabbed his wallet off his desk and got up; he had to make it up to his father. Tony walked out the squad room and got into his car. Even though his father had been a horrible father in the past, he had pretty much made up for it in his final actions and because of that Tony was going to make sure his father had one hell of a funeral.

* * *

"Ok Miss Todd," Dr Death said as Kate lay on the hospital bed "going by this ultrasound I would say you are about 14 weeks pregnant"

"Wow," Kate replied "I didn't expect to be that far along"

"Yeah too late for the big A now Kate" Abby exclaimed sarcastically.

"You were considering an abortion" Dr Death said shocked, he had never picked Kate as the type to not want children.

"No way," Kate said firmly "I want kids, I could never do that, I was just hoping it would be at a better time"

"Well no matter how hard you try you can't predict when these things will happen" Dr Death said sympathetically.

Kate just laid there in the bed, too shocked for words. It wasn't until Abby asked the very question she was thinking that Kate was able to saying anything else.

"How could she be so far along without knowing?" Abby asked the Dr.

"Well," Dr. Death explained "some women don't even know that they're pregnant until they're giving birth"

"Seriously?" Kate asked, shocked and amazed at the same time.

"Yeah, there was once case where a woman went into see a doctor about appendicitis and gave birth to twins an hour later" the Dr. continued to explain "apparently they were lying sideways along the woman's pelvic bones thus not giving her the usual baby bump"

"You sure there's only one in there?" Kate quickly asked, looking concerningly at the ultrasound machine.

"Absolutely" Dr. Death confirmed "there's only one there and from what I can see it's perfectly healthy which is excellent especially considering the circumstances of late"

Kate nodded slowly and turned away from the screen, saying nothing and showing no signs that she was happy about the baby, concerning both Abby and the doctor.

"So when should she expect morning sickness and other exciting and fun stuff like that?" Abby asked sarcastically, trying to shift Kate's train of thought.

"Well to be perfectly honest, I don't think she's going to get it" the doctor said "usually most women experience it in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy" and turning to Kate he added "have you been feeling sick anytime over the past 3 months?"

Kate shook her head without removing her eyes off the floor.

"Any cravings?" the doctor continued.

Kate shook her head "no".

"Swollen ankles? Tiredness? Mood swings?"

Kate shook her head again.

"Gee you've skipped pretty much everything" Dr. Death said, shocked "very rare! From my personal and professional opinion I'd say you are having a perfect pregnancy"

Kate gave a weak smile and quietly said "can I go now?"

Dr. Death shrugged his shoulders "I don't see why not"

"Kate are you ok?" Abby asked, greatly concerned for her friend.

"Yeah I'm ok" Kate said, with little to no emotion in her tone "I'm just going for a walk. No need to wait up" and with that she pulled her shirt down over her stomach, slid off the bed and quietly walked out of the room, leaving Abby and her doctor giving each other concerned expressions and both silently prayed that she wouldn't do something she'd live to regret.

* * *

_About the example Dr. Death gave Kate about a woman not knowing she was pregnant and giving birth to twins is a true story. The woman is Australian and her story was published in an Australian magazine called Woman's Weekly. Her two boys were born half an hour apart, giving them separate birthdays (11:35pm and 12:05am) and were named Brendon and Bailey_


	61. Chapter 61: Tony Stuffs Up!

Being told that you're expecting your first child is usually supposed to be a happy and joyous occasion and although Kate was happy to be pregnant, the timing and recent events were souring the moment for her.

It wasn't that she didn't want to have children. On the contrary, she _really_ wanted to have children and having them with Tony was a dream come true but it was the circumstances that she had found out about it as well as the direction that her life was heading in that was preventing her from screaming with joy and doing cartwheels...although actually knowing how to do a cartwheel would probably help the situation a little.

Kate sighed as she made her way around a corner in the hospital garden. If it didn't belong to the hospital and could only be used for patients and their families, she'd come here more often. The garden was filled with the most colourful flowers she'd ever seen, beautiful tall trees, bridges over small streams and the laughter of children running down the winding paths. Somehow, although she had no idea how, all her problems seemed to wash away with the stream and she felt more at peace then she had in the last few days.

Kate was about to start another circuit of the garden, when she spotted a woman sitting on a bench by herself. Kate had passed her a few times before but it was this time that she had noticed that the woman was crying so she slowly walked over to the woman and sat down on the bench next to her.

"Hey, my name's Kate, are you alright there?" she asked, quietly and as gentle as possible.

The woman choked back some tears and wiped more off her face and nodded slowly, obviously trying to give Kate the hint that she didn't want to talk but Kate knowing all too well that you need to talk, carefully continued.

"Are you sure, you just seem to be...upset and I wanted to make sure you're ok" Kate said, carefully choosing her words as not to upset the woman any further.

The woman continued to say nothing but it was clear to Kate that she was listening to her and Kate figured that the woman was probably enjoy listening to someone speak rather than talking about her problems so Kate continued, this time changing the subject.

"You know what I was asked the other day" she asked, casually looking around the garden "what happens if you go on a survival course and don't pass?"

The woman, who still didn't really want Kate there, turned slowly to face Kate and said;

"You die" in a rather emotionless tone.

"Ok then" Kate said, shifting her body to face the woman "answer me this one. Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp, when no decent human being would eat it?"

At hearing this, a smile appeared on the woman's face as she had a small chuckle at Kate's question.

"That's better" Kate said, "It's nice to see you smile"

"Got anymore?" the woman asked, generally interested and obviously procrastinating.

"Why yes I do" Kate said proudly, searching her brain for one better than her toast question, glad that at least she was talking.

"If you get into a taxi cab, and ask the driver to drive backwards to your destination, will the cab driver owe you money?" she asked, smiling.

The woman smiled back at Kate "I don't think so" she answered "but it's worth a try someday"

Kate laughed at this statement but became slightly more serious now that she had broken the ice.

"So uh…" she began to say but paused because she realised that she didn't know the woman's name.

"Matilda" the woman said "Matilda Perry but you can call me Milly if you want" she said, suddenly becoming interested in her fingers on her lap.

"Ok Milly" Kate said, trying to get the conversation moving "what's wrong? It's such a beautiful day and no fun spending it crying"

"I just found out that I can't have kids" she said, tears swelling up again in her eyes.

Kate was shocked. How can someone not be able to have kids?

"Oh my gosh, why?" she asked, greatly concerned.

"We just had tests done" Milly explained "I've miscarried 3 times already and I gave birth to a stillborn about a year ago and haven't fallen pregnant since so we had some tests done and the doctor just told us that I've got ovarian cancer and after treatment I won't be able to have biological children" and with that she started crying again and buried her face in her hands.

Kate placed a sympathetic hand on her shoulder "cancer doesn't mean you can't have biological children" she explained caringly "you can have some of your eggs frozen and try IVF later"

Milly shook her head quickly "I was born with only one ovary" she sobbed "and they're removing my remaining one because of the cancer and besides that, I was told I had no eggs left because the cancer destroyed my ovary and it stopped producing eggs"

Kate removed her hand from Milly's shoulder and said nothing. 'What a huge blow that was on such a young woman' she thought 'she only looks about 25, how can this happen?' and suddenly, surprising Kate that she had forgotten, she remembered that she was pregnant and everything was slowly coming into perspective. How could she be so selfish and think only about herself? Here was a woman who wants to have kids more than anything and now she's been told that 

she can't have any and all along Kate was worrying about her job and losing Tony when she should have been getting excited that she was able to get pregnant so easily. Who cares about the timing? All that mattered was she was going to have a baby with the man that she loved and she could worry about the consequences as they presented themselves.

"I'm really sorry" was all Kate could say to her new friend "I really am"

Milly wiped her face with her fingers "that's ok" she said, still clearly very upset "I suppose things could be worse and besides there's always adoption or foster care"

"exactly and if you need any help at all with organizing them I'll be more than glad to help you" Kate offered, giving her a business card with her name and number on it.

"Thank you so much Kate… or is it Caitlin?" Milly asked, looking at the card.

"Kate" Kate said quickly and laughed at Milly's sudden shocked expression "only my mum calls me Caitlin, well her and Ducky"

"A duck calls you Caitlin?" she asked, confused.

"Oh no. Ducky's a Medical Examiner in autopsy at NCIS" Kate quickly said, correcting herself with a laugh.

Milly smiled and nodded and turned to watch a rather handsome man walking towards them.

"Well I better go that's my husband Chris" she said, "Thank you so much for our chat. I do feel better and believe me I'll be asking for your help soon" and with that she eased herself off the bench and walked towards her husband, who greeted her with a hug.

Kate too quickly got off the bench and walked back towards her car, and probably Abby who was most likely still waiting for her despite Kate telling her to leave and meet her back at NCIS. This morning Kate had left NCIS with a million and one thoughts of her life spiraling out of control and now she was going to be entering NCIS with only one thought; how to best tell Tony he's going to be a dad.

* * *

"Hey McGeek," Tony said chirpily walking back into the squad room "what ya doing?"

McGee looked up from his computer screen; he had just gotten back from hours of searching for Kate and was now at Gibb's order putting a BOLO out on her car.

"Putting a Bolo out on Kate's car" McGee replied noticing that Tony's arm was finally in a proper sling.

"Who asked you to do that?" Tony answered not really thinking that would help but grateful for the effort everyone was going through.

"Gibbs" McGee said and went back to his computer.

Tony nodded and went back and sat at his desk. Tony let out a huge sigh and his mood took a nosedive. Kate had been missing for hours and Tony was starting to think that maybe he had done something wrong.

"Do you think she hates me Probie?" Tony asked.

"No Tony," McGee replied "she thinks the world of you she probably just doesn't like hospitals"

"Then why hasn't she called me?" Tony exclaimed still thinking he'd done something wrong.

"I don't know Tony," McGee sighed "maybe she just wanted some alone time to I dunno absorb everything that's happened"

"Like what?" Tony answered.

"Well," McGee explained "she's just being in a life or death situation again, one person she thought she could trust turned out to be a terrorist and another one who was her friends is lying in the morgue"

"Yeah I spose," Tony sighed "but I wish she'd talk to me or at least call and tell me she was ok"

"She will when she's ready Tony" McGee replied with a smile.

Tony just gave a weak smile back and went back to typing at his computer hoping desperately that Kate would turn up ok.

* * *

Kate hummed as she headed towards the squad room, she was happy all her worries from earlier had seemed to just disappear. She was going to tell Tony and she was quite sure that he would be ok with it.

As Kate got to the entrance to the squad room she could overhear Tony and McGee talking and Kate being Kate couldn't help but eaves drop just in case she heard some dirt that she could use for blackmail later.

"So you and Kate?" McGee said changing his and Tony's earlier subject of how to make a perfect paper plane.

"What about it?" Tony replied wondering where McGee was going with this question.

"Well is she just another one of your conquests?" McGee asked thinking he probably could have phrased it better.

"What? No," Tony exclaimed loudly dropping the rolled up paper ball he had been playing with "how could you say that?"

"Well it's just…you know your history with women Tony" McGee explained putting it as delicately as possible.

"Yes I'm well aware of my history Probie," Tony snapped "but Kate is different"

"How?" McGee asked.

"Well I dunno I just can see myself progressing a lot further in the relationship with her than I normally would I mean we practically live together" Tony said.

"So how far could you see yourself going with her?" McGee continued.

"Well let's put it this way," Tony replied "I could never see myself having children…"

At this comment tears streamed down Kate's cheeks and she ran off towards Abby's lab.


	62. Chapter 62: Slip of the Tounge

"I could never see myself having children," Tony said not realizing that Kate had heard what he had just said and had run off with tears in her eyes, Tony sighed before adding "with anyone other than Kate"

"Wow Tony that's really different for you" McGee exclaimed shocked at how strong Tony's feelings were considering he was the master of commitment issues

"I know," Tony replied "I mean I loved Jeanne but with Kate, its I don't know different"

"I kinda understand where you're coming from," McGee said thinking of Abby "I've been out with other girls but nothing has ever come close to what I have with Abby"

McGee and Tony sat in silence for a few seconds contemplating what they had just revealed to each other when finally Tony broke the ice by saying "Look at us, we're just a couple of saps"

McGee just smiled and shook his head, typical DiNozzo he thought always having to break the silence with a joke.

* * *

Abby walked into her lab. She had her favourite caffeine drink in one hand and a bottle of orange juice in the other. She was expecting Kate to be in her lab bursting to tell her how happy Tony was about her news.

Abby almost dropped her drinks with shock when she saw Kate sitting on the floor in the corner of her lab with tears streaming down her face.

"Omg Kate what happened?" Abby half yelled as she rushed over to where Kate was sitting.

Kate wiped her tears with the sleeve of her shirt and took a deep breath.

"I was just about to walk into the squad room and tell Tony about the baby," Kate explained with sobs in between every few words "but when I got there I heard him say that he could never see himself having children"

"Are you sure?" Abby exclaimed "was there more to the sentence"

"No," Kate replied now crying again "that was it….Abby what am I going to do if I tell Tony he's going to leave me"

Abby put an arm around Kate and looked at her reassuringly.

"I'll tell you what I'm going to do," Abby said quite calmly "I'm going to go up there and give Special Agent DiNozzo a piece of my mind"

Before Kate could protest Abby stormed out of the lab leaving Kate sitting and hoping that Abby wouldn't do anything to drastic to Tony and that this wouldn't just make things worse.

* * *

"So you're saying that you're happy to have kids with Kate?" McGee asked, moving from his desk and sitting on the corner of Tony's, still trying to grasp the concept that Tony was ready to commit.

"Yeah I am" Tony confirmed.

"But this is like years from now right?" McGee asked, continuing to drill Tony for information "like not now but a really long time from now?"

"Actually it doesn't have to be a long time from now" Tony said in a tone that implied that he was seriously thinking about the topic.

"Huh? So if Kate came up to you right now and said hey guess what I'm pregnant you'd be ok with that?" McGee stuttered, now completely shocked as opposed to being calm and agreeable as they were earlier in the conversations.

"You know what Probie" Tony said, leaning forward and placing a hand on McGee's shoulder "I think I would be, after screaming and fainting of course"

"Of course" McGee agreed, picking Tony's hand off his shoulder with the slightest touch of his fingers and placing it back on Tony's lap.

Tony smiled watching McGee squirm at the awkward form of affection but then his attention was suddenly diverted to a strange, small and kind of nerdy man handing out mail to some of the agents.

"Who's that?" Tony asked, changing the subject.

"Who's who?" McGee asked, still carefully eyeing Tony.

"That guy over there with our mail" Tony said, with a quick flick of his head.

"Oh that's Nigel" McGee said casually, as if everyone knew.

"Nigel?" Tony said surprised "who would call their son Nigel? I mean seriously, with a name like that imagine the wedgies and toilet dunks that guy would have got in high school"

"Yeah I pity the poor guy" McGee said sympathetically.

"You can talk, computer geek" Tony said sarcastically, pulling one of his faces to tease McGee but McGee took no notice of Tony's attempt.

"So what do we have a guy called Nigel in our squad room handing out mail?" Tony asked, slightly annoyed that he didn't get to McGee.

"He's the new mail guy" McGee explained "he's replacing Cameron"

"Why what happened to Cameron?" Tony asked, talking about their old mail guy.

"He died when that secret service agent what's his face went crazy and shot everyone" McGee said, referring back to the hostage situation with Brian resulting in a high death count.

"Oh that's right" Tony said remembering "I forgot"

"How the hell could you have forgotten _that_?" McGee streaked, jumping up from Tony's desk "it happened _yesterday_ and Kate was shot!"

"I didn't forget that" Tony said jumping up from his chair "I could never forget that. I was referring to the fact that I forgot the mail guy was part of the death toll"

"Oh" McGee said and sat back down on the corner of Tony's desk.

"Yeah well don't just assume Probie" Tony said, and he too lowered himself back into his chair.

And as if he knew that McGee and Tony were talking about him, Nigel happily walked over to their desks, mail in hand.

"Hey Nigel" McGee said, greeting the socially awkward person.

"Hey Special Agent McGee" Nigel said, a little too chipper for 7 o'clock at night "I've got some mail for you"

"Thanks Nigel" McGee said casually and accepting his mail and placing it under his arm.

"Hey Nigel" Tony said, trying to get into the rather dull conversation "I haven't met you before"

"Yeah I'm Nigel" Nigel said extending a hand towards Tony.

"Yeah we know that Nigel" Tony said with the tone that one would use talking to a brick wall "hey where's your I.D"

"In my pocket" Nigel said, getting kind of awkward at the mention of it.

"You really should be wearing it" McGee said suggestively "it's protocol"

"Yeah but it's got my last name on it" Nigel said, shifting his foot back and forth.

"It's meant to" Tony said sarcastically.

"Yeah well I don't like my last name" Nigel said defensively "I got teased in high school over it"

Tony slowly leaned over towards McGee and whispered so only he could hear "he got teased at school for his last name over a first name like Nigel. It must be bad"

"Yeah" McGee agreed and the two men slowly moved apart and back to their original positions.

"It's ok Nigel" Tony said, trying to be nice but really all he wanted was to hear it "you can tell us. This isn't high school anymore"

"You promise not to laugh?" Nigel asked, greatly troubled by it.

"Yes we promise" McGee said.

"Ok it's…………titsworth"

The second Tony and McGee heard the name, they burst out laughing, causing Nigel to go red.

"We're sorry Nigel" McGee said in between laughs "we're not meaning to laugh"

"Sure you're not" Nigel said, not as chirpy as before.

Tony noticed that while Nigel was speaking, he was also looking around the room, obviously looking for something or someone.

"What you doing there Nigel?" Tony asked curiously.

"Looking for Special Agent DiNozzo" Nigel answered.

"Why?" Tony asked, feeling kind of crushed that Nigel knew who McGee was but not him.

"Yeah well as interesting and funny you find my name, it's not even close to what's going to happen" Nigel explained.

"What's going to happen?" Tony asked, getting concerned.

"I heard some forensic scientist is really, really angry at him and she's going to murder him" Nigel said, fascinated by this information.

"What did he do?" McGee asked, surprised that Abby was going to murder Tony and to the best of his knowledge, Tony hadn't done anything.

"Yeah what did he do?" Tony repeated in 2nd person, not wanting Nigel to know who he was now.

"Dunno" Nigel said "but she's really, really mad and I hear that she's one of the only people who…"

"Can kill you and not leave forensic evidence" McGee said, finishing Nigel's sentence "we know, we've heard it before"

"Oh well all I know is that I don't want to be Agent DiNozzo when she gets here. It's going to be ugly!" and with that, Nigel grabbed the mail cart and quickly walked away.

Just as Nigel had left the room Tony looked up panicked and saw Abby enter the room storming towards him. Tony quickly glanced at McGee, McGee just shrugged his shoulders and turned to his computer pretending he was typing something.

"What the hell did you say to Kate?" Abby yelled across the room before she came to a stop in front of Tony.

"N..Nothing," Tony stammered "I haven't even seen her, I've been out looking for her for hours remember"

"Yeah well she came here," Abby explained "and she heard you say that you don't want kids"

"What?" Tony exclaimed "I never said that"

"Oh really," Abby answered sarcastically "does the phrase 'I could never see myself having children' mean anything to you"

"Well yeah I did say that……" Tony started but was cut off by Abby.

"Ha see" Abby said with her voice raised.

"Did she hear the rest of the sentence?" Tony asked.

"Uh no" Abby mumbled suddenly becoming calm again.

"Well if she had of heard the rest of the sentence she would have heard me say that I didn't want kids with anyone other than her" Tony explained relieved when Abby seemed to accept this and calm down completely.

McGee sat watching the situation wondering what was going on and why Kate was so worked up over something Abby said.

"Wait," Tony exclaimed suddenly realizing something "how do you know Kate's here?"

"Uh well she was here a few hours ago" Abby said bracing herself for Tony's anger.

"And you didn't think to tell me she was here" Tony half shouted angry that he hadn't been told where Kate was when he had been searching for hours.

"Well I just wanted to get her back to the hospital for her ultra..." Abby started before realizing what she was about to say and quickly finishing with "I just wanted to get her back to the hospital"

McGee sat knowing what Abby was going to say and suddenly put two and two together.

"Uh Abby," McGee said standing up "can I have a word with you?"

"Sure" Abby replied cheerfully and walked over to where McGee was standing leaving Tony fuming.

"Once McGee was sure that Tony couldn't hear them he turned to Abby and said "What's going on?"

"What do you mean?" Abby asked.

"Well first you come down here saying that Kate is upset coz of something Tony said,' McGee explained "and then you just about tell him that Kate was having an ultrasound but don' at the last minute"

"I don't know what your talking about McGee" Abby said quickly hoping to ward him off unfortunately it didn't work.

"Is Kate pregnant?" McGee asked bluntly noting the shock in Abby's face.

"There's no use lying to me Abby," McGee added "I can see the answer in your face"

Abby sighed and knew that she would have to tell McGee.

"Yes," Abby replied looking at the ground knowing that she couldn't face Kate now, she had just revealed her secret and now Tony would most likely find out.


	63. Chapter 63: Unexpected Consequences

"What really?" McGee exclaimed soaking in what Abby had just said.

"Yeah," Abby sighed "Kate is with child"

"Does Tony know?" McGee asked not really thinking.

"Well obviously not," Abby replied sarcastically "he hasn't seen Kate remember so when is she supposed to have told him"

"Oh right," McGee mumbled "should we tell him?"

"No I don't think so," Abby answered "It's not our place; Kate should be the one to tell him"

"Tell me what?" came Tony's voice from behind Abby, he had managed to sneak over to where they were standing and had also caught the last part of their conversation.

"Nothing" Abby said quickly.

"Oh really then why were you talking about what Kate should tell me?" Tony asked curiously.

"Umm just that…ummm," Abby stuttered "Kate's in my lab"

"What?" Tony yelled "how long has she been there for?"

"About half an hour" Abby replied sheepishly well prepared for Tony to get mad at her.

Tony stood looking at Abby wide eyed, how could she have not told him, she had known how worried Tony was when he couldn't find Kate. Tony was about to say something nasty to Abby when he heard someone enter the squad room. Tony turned and was both relieved and shocked to find Kate walking towards him.

"Oh my god Kate," Tony exclaimed running up to Kate and scooping her up in his arms "I'm so glad you're ok, I've been so worried about you"

"I'm fine Tony," Kate replied calmly with some sadness in her voice "can you put me down please?"

Tony obeyed and placed Kate gently on the ground and released his grip.

"Kate what's wrong?" Tony asked with concern.

"Apart from the fact that you just told McGee you can't see yourself having children," Kate spat at Tony "nothing"

"But I didn't say that" Tony said quickly trying to defend himself.

"I heard you say it Tony," Kate yelled "I was here I heard what you said"

"Did you hear the whole sentence?" Tony asked calmly not wanting to make Kate even angrier.

"NO," Kate shouted "I didn't need too and I didn't want to stick around after what I heard you say"

"Kate," Tony said firmly grasping Kate by the shoulders "I said that I couldn't see myself having children with anyone other than you"

"Sure you did," Kate said sarcastically "you're just saying that to save your own arse"

"No I'm not," Tony replied "Ask McGee, pull the security tapes, lip read what I say, I dunno do something I'm telling you Kate that is exactly what I said"

Kate's eyes just dropped to the ground if Tony was willing to let Kate use every possible measure to ensure he wasn't lying than he must be telling the truth.

"But why would you say that?" Kate said suddenly calm.

"Because it's true Kate," Tony explained putting his arm around Kate "I love you, more than I've ever loved anyone else and there is nobody I'd rather see by my side for the rest of my life even if that means enduring a few kids along the way"

Kate jabbed Tony in the stomach for his last comment causing Tony to quickly add "Ok I guess a couple of kids wouldn't be so bad"

Kate smiled for the first time in a few hours, if she was ever going to tell Tony the truth now was the time to do it and after seeing a sideways glance from Abby, Kate took a deep breath.

"Ok well there _is_ something I need to tell you" Kate began, obviously nervous "and I wasn't sure how you were going to take this, I'm still not 100 sure but..."

"Kate what is it?" Tony asked, hoping like hell that she wasn't just about to break up with him.

"It's...umm..." Kate began trying to find the right way to say it but decided that the best way was just to tell him "Tony I'm pregnant" she blurted out.

"Huh?" Tony said dumbly.

"Tony I'm pregnant" Kate repeated.

"Seriously?" Tony asked, not really believing what he was hearing.

"Yeah" Kate said, fiddling with her fingers slightly, waiting for Tony to blow his top or give her some lame excuse to leave and never return.

"Wow" was all Tony said, in one of those dull, not really sinking in type tones and not directing it at anyone.

"So..." Kate said, waiting to hear Tony's reaction and praying that he wasn't going to scream but all Tony did was stand there, blankly looking around the room. This certainly was not the reaction that she had been expecting, nor wanted.

"Tony are you ok?" McGee asked his co-worker, concern filling his voice.

Tony just took one look at each person standing in front of him, muttered a "I gotta go" and quietly turned around and walked towards the elevator, leaving Kate, Abby an McGee standing there in silence.

"I told you he wouldn't like it" Kate said while looking at the floor, clearly shattered by recent events.

"Kate I'm sure he just needs time to think" Abby said, placing a comforting hand on Kate's shoulder but Kate just wanted to be alone and after politely thanking McGee and Abby, she turned around and headed towards the stairs that would take her to Abby's lab.

"I don't get it" McGee said, finally speaking up "this is totally unlike Tony"

"Not really" Abby said turning to face McGee "you know his commitment phobia"

"Yeah but you heard him! He said he would love to have kids with Kate so what the hell happened?" McGee exclaimed, starting to get worked up over the situation.

"McGee, what would you do if one moment you were talking about maybe having kids one day and then I suddenly turn around and say I'm pregnant? Abby asked, hoping a hypothetical situation would help things but the look on McGee's face was priceless.  
"You're not are you?" he said, clearly about the have a heart attack.

"No McGee, hypothetically" Abby said quickly, giving him a playful punch in the shoulder.

"Oh, right" McGee said, gathering himself up slightly "umm I guess I would umm... probably be speechless, quiet and have to get away to think" finishing with a sigh, knowing that Abby had a point to all this.

"Which is exactly what Tony did" Abby said, somewhat proud of herself "he'll think it over and come back...you'll see" and with that she turned around and walked towards her lab to comfort the distressed Kate, leaving McGee to ponder life.

* * *

Tony had no idea where he was. After leaving NCIS, he had just jumped into his car and went for a drive and he had no idea where he ended up. The thought of having kids wasn't what was scaring him, especially having them with Kate. It was the fact that it was happening so fast. They hadn't even moved in with each other yet and now Kate was pregnant with his child. Wait, was it even his? Tony shook his head quickly to get rid of the dark though. Of course the baby is his but what was he going to do?

Tony pulled over his car on the side of the road and did some serious thinking. _Ok_ he thought _I just said I like kids and I've always wanted them with Kate, it's just that it's happening a little faster than planned. _

Tony looked around his car and noticed his wallet lying on the floor, opened to the wallet sized photo Tony had of him and Kate and he suddenly realised that even though things weren't happening exactly as planned, they were still happening and what could be possibly better than having a family with the woman he loved and it was at that exact moment that Tony pulled out a road map and began to find his way back...he had shopping to do and a heart to fix.

* * *

"I told you Abby, he's not coming back" Kate said again for probably the millionth time in about half an hour "he's probably long gone by now"

"That's not true" Abby said for equally the millionth time "he loves you and he's probably..."

"Packing his bags as we speak" Kate said turning to Abby with one of her 'you're not going to change my mind' expressions.

"No" Abby said, getting frustrated "he's not, he's..." but suddenly stopped and looked behind Kate with sudden confusion "he's right here"

Kate turned around towards the entrance to Abby's lab and saw Tony standing there with a bag in his hand looking like he wanted to say something.

"I gotta go" Abby said...taking a few small steps backwards "McGee's calling me"

"No he's not" Kate said, in her usual sarcastic tone meaning that things were probably looking up now that Tony had returned and wasn't starting a fresh in Mexico.

Abby took no notice of Kate's random act of sarcasm and walked out of her lab leaving Kate and Tony alone to talk things over.

"So" Kate said starting the conversation off "I guess it's over then huh"

"No way in hell" Tony said rather quickly "I'm not going anywhere"

"You're not?" Kate asked, generally surprised.

"Nope. You're stuck with me" Tony said and moved closer towards her but stopped short of a metre away and bent down to get something out of the bag.

"What's that?" Kate asked, now completely confused. She expected them to talk about the current situation and it appeared that Tony was about to do a show and tell moment and watched as Tony pulled out a small box just larger than a shoe box and handed it to her.

"Open it" Tony said, slowly standing up.

"But Tony we really need to talk" Kate began to protest.

"We will" Tony promised "but do this first..."

Kate sighed and opened up the box. Fitted in perfectly were different parcels, individually wrapped in brown paper as not to give anything way and each had a number 1 to on them.

Kate picked up the parcel with the number one on it and slowly unwrapped it, revealing a small jet plane.

"Remember the time when we first met?" Tony asked while Kate was staring at the plane "I thought you were the most beautiful woman I had ever seen and you thought I was..."

"A total jack ass" Kate laughed, holding the plane in her hands and now removing her eyes from it as she remembered the moment.

"Not the phrase I was going to use but it works for this moment" Tony said with a laugh and gave a quick flick of the head indicating for Kate to continue.

After slowly unwrapping parcel number 2, Kate discovered a rather funny vampire doll that kinda resembled Abby in a freaky sort of way.

"A vampire?" Kate asked.

"Remember the first time we met Ari Haswari?" Tony asked, sounding so neutral at the mention of the terrorist's name "we were talking about our Bete Noire"

"Yeah" Kate agreed remembering the horrible day "you said yours was vampires"

"I did but I had another one that I was to gutless to tell you about" Tony admitted.

"Really?" Kate said, intrigued by this new information.

"My other nightmare was that if anything happened to you I'd die" Tony told her "and I almost lived it when Ari took you, Ducky and Gerald hostage"

Kate looked down at the box and saw a helicopter that had been part of parcel number two while Tony continued "and I almost lived it again when he kidnapped you for the first time so you could help him kill the president"

And then what Kate saw next brought tears to her eyes. Lying in the box were newspaper clippings of the day she '_died_' "and I did live it when we all though he killed you" Tony finished quietly "I died that day Kate. My life ended the moment I saw that bullet hit you and I still can't get the image of you lying there out of my head"

"Oh Tony" Kate began and went to get up to comfort him but Tony pulled himself together and motioned for her to continue.

Parcels 3, 4 and 5 consisted of short case notes of the investigation of trying to get her back, Tony's hospital bracelet when he was shot and clippings from the attack on the president at NCIS.

"my life suddenly had meaning again once I found out you weren't dead and I almost died saving you but we pulled though and not even an insane jealous colleague could stop us" Tony explained as Kate flicked through the items but her eyes suddenly laid upon the two remaining items in the box.

Picking up the 2nd last one she slowly unwrapped it and almost burst out crying. There, in her hands was the tiniest newborn jumpsuit in a beautiful baby white.

"And now" Tony said "you've giving me more than just your love. You're giving me the ultimate symbol of our love. A child that I can love, care for and watch grow up into a person that I hope will have everything they ever want and be as happy as I am now"

"You mean it?" Kate asked, holding back tears of joy.

Tony knelt down on one knee so he was eye level with Kate. "So the timing's not great but screw it Kate" he said "I wouldn't have this any other way. The three of us are going to be a happy family and nothing's going to destroy that"

Unable to contain her happiness any longer, Kate threw her arms around Tony and embraced the man she loved more than anything else in the world but to her surprise, Tony slowly pulled away.

"There's one more" he said, indicating the small box like parcel remaining in the box.

Kate slowly picked up the box and unwrapped the packaging. It was a small jewellery box and inside sat the most beautiful engagement ring that she had ever seen.

As if this was the most natural thing in the world, Tony reached for the ring and remaining in his kneeling position turned to Kate and said "Caitlin Todd, mother of my child and love of my life...will you do me the honour and become my wife?"

Speechless, Kate only managed to give him a breathless "yes" and two of them were in the most passionate embrace that they had ever been in, the world finally looking bright again.

**_We're really sorry this chapter took so long to be posted. Both of us (the writters) have been really busy with jobs at the moment (one of us has two) and combining that with studies, we haven't had the time to sit down and write anything, so we tried to make this chapter a worth while one to wait for and we hope it worked. We will try to get the next ones done a little quicker and hopefully keep up with the same standard. So happy reading and keep up reviewing! We've noticed a small decline in the responces we've been getting so here's a helpful hint...the more reviews we get...the faster we write!! _**


	64. Chapter 64: Tony's Theory

It had been almost a month since Tony and Kate became engaged and there had been no more recent hostages, deaths, unplanned pregnancies or crazy attempts to kill the President and life at NCIS had finally calmed down.

The squad room was for once, quiet. Apart from Nigel rushing about to make sure 'no mail went undelivered', there were few Agents in the office that morning and it was just how McGee liked it. He had only an hour before the new agents being hired by NCIS were coming in for interviews and allocations and since he was one of the agents chosen to give these such interviews; McGee wanted to get as much done as he could. The only other agent in the office with him that he actually knew was Tony and since nothing dramatic had recently happened, Tony was back to being Tony; and that can never be a good thing.

Half an hour later McGee had just finished cleaning out his folders on C drive when the elevator opened and Kate walked out. McGee sighed and went back to his computer because if it didn't look like he was busy, he was sure Kate would find him something to do...and she didn't even work there!

Kate walked over to Tony who was madly clicking away on his computer and leaned in to give him a quick hello kiss on the cheek but Tony didn't even notice it.

"What are you doing?" Kate asked, playfully putting her hands on her hips.

Tony, without looking up from the screen, gave Kate a small 'I'm busy at the moment' grunt and continued typing madly on the keyboard.

With a puzzled and intrigued look on her face, Kate cleared her throat as a sarcastic sign for attention but again Tony took little notice of his fiancé.

"What the hell are you doing?" Kate asked again, desperate to know what Tony was finding more interesting than her at the present moment but again, no response.

Kate was about to ask again, a little more forcefully this time when McGee sighed and spoke up.

"Tony's declared his apartment an independent nation and he's suing his neighbours for violating his air space" McGee explained, as if this sort of thing happened every day.

"Are you serious?" Kate asked with a little giggle.

"Unfortunately" McGee sighed and turned back to his computer.

Kate looked at Tony and laughed. What he was doing sounded very him and she was glad everything was back to normal. Well most things. She still had the little problem of finding a job after quitting the Secret Service. Not a move she made lightly but after she informed them of her pregnancy, she had to be placed on desk duty because it would be dangerous for her to protect the president in her condition. The decision to quit was entirely hers. Sitting at a desk was something that she hated and going from protecting the President to sitting at a desk felt like a major demotion so she thought best to find something else.

Kate stopped thinking for a second and looked at Tony, who was still ignoring her.

"So," Kate said hoping to get his attention "I had lunch with my mother today"

"Oh really," Tony replied instantly looking up from what he was doing "How did she take the news?"

"Well I didn't tell her" Kate mumbled

"What," Tony exclaimed "I thought we agreed"

"We did Tony," Kate said defending herself "But she was going on about being a good christian and getting married before having kids and all that crap, I didn't have the heart to tell her"

"Well you have to tell her sometime Kate," Tony answered mockingly "you won't pass your bump off for bloating for very much longer"

"Did you tell Gibbs?" Kate asked accusingly.

"Are you kidding?" Tony exclaimed "I like my bowels where they are thanks"

"But Tony I thought we agreed" Kate said mockingly imitating Tony's earlier remark.

"Ok well new plan," Tony replied "You tell Gibb's and your mother they both love you so therefore there will be no hurting"

"Tony no matter who tells Gibbs he's still going to know who knocked me up" Kate said very calmly but smiled when she saw the alram in Tony's face.

Before Tony could reply he was interrupted by a gruff familiar voice behind him saying "Tell me what?"

"Oh hi Boss" Tony said a little too quickly and a little too happily.

"What going on DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked getting suspicious.

"Nothing boss" Tony replied trying to sound convincing.

"Well if it's nothing than what do you need to tell me?" Gibbs said with slight annoyance in his voice.

"Just that um...umm," Tony stammered and looked to McGee and Kate for help, Kate just shrugged with a smile on her face and McGee just continued to look at his computer screen "McGee has to tell you something"

McGee instantly looked up from his computer screen and glared at Tony.

"Well McGee?" Gibbs said his voice now bordering on yelling.

"We still don't have a case Boss," McGee said knowing that he was a horrible liar so it was better to just tell the truth "One came in like 5 minutes ago but the director gave it to Newman's team"

Gibbs just groaned and glanced around the room. He saw Tony and Kate looking at each other and whispering things so he couldn't hear them. Gibbs had thought them getting engaged was a little rushed at first, but now he saw how they were with each other he was quite happy for them. Gibbs than looked across to McGee who was typing something on his computer, Gibbs noticed a small bunch of black roses on McGee's desk and knew that they must have come from Abby, Gibbs thought that those two made a good couple. Gibbs then looked over to where Ziva was usually sitting and noticed that her chair was empty.

"Where's Ziva?" Gibbs asked not directing his question at anyone in particular.

"Umm I dunno boss," McGee replied "she hasn't come in yet"

"She probably had trouble getting out of bed" Tony jested suddenly taking notice of what was going on around him.

Sudenly as if by magic everyone heard the ding of the elevator and as the doors opened Gibbs sighed in relief as he saw Ziva enter the room.

"Where have you been?" Gibbs asked with a look in his eye that said 'you'd better have a good excuse or there will be trouble'

"Sorry Gibbs" Ziva replied "I was all ready to go and then my partner lost his glasses and I had to help him find them"

"And?" Gibbs said.

"And what?" Ziva asked slightly confused.

"Did you find them?" Gibbs answered abruptly.

"Oh right," Ziva said "yeah but we had to tape them back together coz they were kinda on the couch and I sat on them"

Before anyone could answer they were interrupted by the sound of Britney Spear's song outrageous playing. Taking advantage of the interruption Ziva excused herself from the room and left heading towards the bathroom.

"Oh sorry thats my phone" Kate said apologetically before grabbing her phone out of her hand bag.

"Hello" Kate said as she put her phone to her ear "Oh Michael hi...sorry...I can't hear you there isn't very good reception in here...hang on I'll go outside"

Kate waved to everyone in the room quickly before rushing into the elevator and heading down stairs all the while saying "Michael you'll have to speak up I can't hear you"

Once Kate was gone Tony turned back towards the squadroom ready to grill Ziva about her partner who no one knew the name of yet when he remembered she had left. Before Tony could say anything he were interrupted again by Palmer walking into the room.

Tony turned to look at Palmer and noticed that he had a lot of sticky tape holding his glasses together.

"What happened to your glasses Jimmy?" Tony asked even though he was pretty sure he already knew.

"Oh," Jimmy replied "I was just heading off to come to work and I lost them and then my girlfriend sat on them and well they broke"

"Girlfriend huh?" Tony said teasingly "What does she look like?"

"Well she's tall," Jimmy explained "She has long brown hair, brown eyes, is really tough and she's from somewhere overseas"

"Wow," Tony said sarcastically and then turned to McGee "hey McGee that sounds a lot like someone we know doesn't it"

"Sure whatever Tony" McGee mumbled not wanting Tony to go off on one of his tangents on how he thought Ziva and Palmer were dating.

"So why are you here?" Gibbs asked suddenly making everyone aware that he was still in the room.

"Oh umm Ducky sent me down here to tell you all that you have to come down and have blood tests" Jimmy answered.

"What for?" Tony asked not liking the idea of a needle being jabbed into his arm.

"Because it's protocol for all NCIS agents to have a yearly blood tests as part of their medicals" Jimmy said as if this was comon knowledge.

"Oh right" Tony sighed giving into the fact that Ducky would be taking some of his blood.

"We'll be down soon" Gibbs said.

Jimmy nodded and and left the room haeding back towards autopsy.

Once Tony was sure he was out of earshot he turned to face McGee and said "see McGee I told you that Palmer was Ziva's mystery man"

"How do you figure that Tony?" McGee asked not wanting to encourage him.

"Come on," Tony exclaimed "first Ziva says she broke her partners glasses then Palmer comes in and says his girlfriend broke his glasses by sitting on them and the description he gave fits Ziva perfectly"

"I guess" McGee replied somehow thinking that Tony may be on to something.

"You know I'm right" Tony smirked and lent back in his chair.

"If you two are quite finished," Gibbs said forcefully getting sick of being ignored "then we should get down to the lab"

"Right Boss" Tony and McGee said quickly and jumped up from their seats and walked down towards the lab.

Gibbs smiled and followed thinking to himself how easy it was to get his team to do what he wanted.

Gibbs heard someone running up behind him and assumed it must be Ziva coming back from the bathroom. Before Ziva could even ask where they were going and why Gibbs said rather quickly "Autopsy, yearly medicals"

Ziva nodded and fell into stride next to Gibbs thinking about how much she hated needles and hoping that McGee wouldn't faint like he did during their last medical.

* * *

Kate walked back into NCIS with a solemn look on her face. She had just finished her conversation with Michael and it had left her anxious and confused. Kate looked around the room wondering where everybody was and most importantly where Tony was. Kate then remembered that NCIS had its yearly medical on this week and it was Gibbs's teams turn for their blood tests. Kate sighed heavily and sat down in one of the vacant chairs to wait for Tony she had something important to tell him, it was the reason Michael had rung. Kate didn't know how but her mother had found out she was pregnant and now she wanted to have a little chat to her AND Tony.

* * *

**_Thankyou so much for all the great reviews we recieved. We recieved more for this chapter than any previous chapters and as a reward we wrote this chapter as fast as we possibly could to post it earlier than we usually do. Keep those reviews coming and we may have another chapter or two ready by the end of the week._**

**_Love _**

**_Emma and Kate (a.k.a the writers)_**


	65. Chapter 65: A New Enemy

As Gibbs and Ziva made their way down to autopsy, they heard a loud "OWW!" coming from the room. Out of sheer reaction, they bolted into the room to find McGee lying unconscious on the floor and Tony sitting on one of the autopsy tables with his arm across his body.

"What happened in here?" Gibbs asked, wondering why his agents were all over the room.

"I'm trying to take their blood tests" Ducky explained, obviously getting slightly frustrated "but Agent DiNozzo here won't sit still" and he tried to have another jab at Tony's arm but with Tony moving around so much, all Ducky managed to do was stab him again.

"Tony if you don't sit still I'm going to continue jabbing you with this needle and believe me the more I stab you, the more it's going to hurt" Ducky explained.

"Yeah but it hurts every time you try to take my blood" Tony whined "and if you want my personal opinion, my blood is quite happy to remain exactly where it is. We've grown quite attached to each other over the years"

"Yes well NCIS protocol clearly states that you and your blood must be separated once every year for tests, so hand it over!" Ducky said and quickly lept forward, causing Tony to jump off the table and Gibbs and Ziva watched as Ducky chased Tony all over autopsy, thrusting a needle in his direction. A sight that they had never seen before.

After they got over the initial shock of Ducky physically chasing someone, both Ziva and Gibbs turned to the unconscious McGee on the floor.

"Why the hell is McGee lying there?" Gibbs asked in his usual demanding voice.

"McGee saw the needle and fainted" Abby said, speaking up from her position at the back of the room.

"A needle?" Gibbs asked.

"Yeah well it was either that or freaking out like Tony is" Abby said and every one turned just in time to watch Tony drag a portable tray across in Ducky's path in attempt to stop the determined doctor but the second that Tony was about to run out the door, Gibbs silently stood in the way.

"But boss" Tony whined "why do we have to have these?"

"Same reason I tell you every year DiNozzo" Gibbs said bluntly "because they can" and without time for Tony to bolt again, Ducky quickly jabbed him with the needle and managed to get enough blood to test with.

"Ok" Ducky sighed; relieved that was over "your turn Officer David"

"Umm you sure you don't want to do McGee first?" Ziva asked, surprisingly a little uneasy about this whole thing.

"The big scary assassin is scared of needles" Tony said with a laugh but quickly stopped when he saw the expression on Gibbs' face.

"I'm not scared" Ziva protested "I simply don't like them"

"Well Ziva, McGee's already been done" Ducky kindly informed her.

"When?" Tony asked, surprised that he missed it.

"Well due to the large fact of him lying unconscious on the floor, it made it rather easy to borrow a small test tube of blood" Ducky explained and walked over to Ziva.

"Now my dear you won't feel a thing, I promise" Ducky said, giving Ziva his word. Ziva nodded and extended her arm, waiting to feel the pain that Tony seemed to have experienced but the moment she looked at her arm, Ducky was removing the needle, blood sloshing away inside it.

"That's it?" Ziva asked, surprised.

"You expected more?" Ducky said, a grin crossing his face.

"That didn't even hurt" Ziva explained, and turned to face Tony.

"I'm not going to live this down am I?" he asked. Ziva shook her head 'no'.

After Ducky had finished taking Gibbs's blood test, he gathered up all the test tubes, labelled them and gave them to Palmer, who had recently entered autopsy, giving the instructions on where to send them and something about relationships in his own time, which reminded Tony about his theory about Ziva and Palmer.

Once Palmer had left to give the needles to Abby, Gibbs turned to his team.

"Ok, now that point of wasteful time is over, we have a case. Let's go!"

"Uh boss" McGee said, only recently regaining consciousness and slowly sitting up rubbing his head "we don't have a case"

"Well in the time it took for this chaos to break out" Gibbs said, quickly side glancing at Tony and Ducky "NCIS received a phone call. We have a murdered Navy Lieutenant down at Grand Ave Park. So if you're all finished wasting time, pack your bags and move it" and with that he turned around and walked out of autopsy.

"Well what are you all standing there for?" Ducky asked, surprised that no one had moved "go get me that body"

"Oh right Ducky" McGee said sprinting out of autopsy, followed by Tony and Ziva who had decided that walking was a safer option after McGee ran into the elevator doors.

"Umm doctor" Palmer stuttered, unsure if he should be saying anything "don't you have to go too?"

"Yes Mr. Palmer I do" Ducky said just realising that Palmer had returned after giving Abby the blood tests "but unlike everyone else, I don't need to rush. My body's not going anywhere"

"Ok well I'll go get the gurney" Palmer said running off, leaving Ducky to clean up the needles he used for testing.

* * *



With Gibbs driving it only took a minute or so to get to the crime scene. Once they got there, Gibbs and his team piled out of the van and Tony went around the back to get McGee, who was probably in a crumpled heap by now.

"So where should we start looking for this body boss?" Tony asked as he opened the back doors to the van.

"I dunno" Gibbs said sarcastically "probably where the big crowd of people are standing screaming and looking completely horrified"

"Oh right" Tony mumbled feeling slightly embarrassed; he really wished sometimes that Gibbs wouldn't humiliate him whenever he got the chance.

"Ok McGee bag and tag," Gibbs said delegating jobs "Ziva photos and DiNozzo see if you can find any witnesses amongst this lot"

"Got it Boss" replied 3 voices in unison before Ziva, McGee and Tony hurried off to do their jobs.

Gibbs gave a small smile to himself. He had them well trained, before he too headed off towards the crime scene.

As the body on the ground came into view Gibbs heard his whole team gasp in shock and when he too saw the body he only just resisted the urge to do the same thing.

Laying there was the body of a young woman Gibbs would have estimated her to be about 24 to 25 years old and from what he could tell it looked as though her shirt had been ripped open and then covered again when she had been dumped.

Gibbs forced himself through the crowd of people constantly saying "Federal Agents make way" or "move out of the bloody way"

Eventually Gibbs made his way out of the crowd; he walked over to the body and knelt down beside her. Gibbs put his hands into her pockets and felt around for a wallet or something that could help them make an ID.

Gibbs pulled out her naval ID and read the details to McGee who was standing nearby looking for anything he could bag.

"Lieutenant Laura Burns, 26" Gibbs said handing the ID to McGee who placed it into an evidence bag.

"No one here saw anything boss" Tony said as he came towards the body holding his notepad.

"Or no one here wants to admit they saw anything" Gibbs replied earning a yeah possibly look from Tony.

Gibbs once again turned his attention back to the body, using one hand he slowly lifted the piece of material covering the woman's torso, when Gibbs saw what was under there he quickly replaced the material and decided it was time for all their spectators to leave.

"Alright everyone," Gibbs said in a booming voice addressing the crowd "time to go, there's nothing to see here"

When no one budged Gibbs took a deep breath and shouted "GO NOW"

Suddenly there was blast of movement and every single one of the people who had been watching left.

"What's up Boss?" Tony asked knowing that Gibbs wouldn't have made everyone leave unless it was for a good reason.

"Ziva I need you to get a picture of this" Gibbs said calmly a little too calmly for Tony's liking.

"Ok" Ziva replied coming over from where she had previously been taking pictures. Once Ziva was in position Gibbs removed the sheet from the body and handed it to McGee who once again put it in an evidence bag.

It was suddenly clear to everyone why Gibbs had gotten rid of the spectators, where the sheet had once been was a large gaping hole in the woman's chest and it was quite obvious to everyone that all her organs had been removed.

* * *

It only took Ducky and Palmer about 5 minutes to get to the crime scene and once there Tony was quite sure that Palmer would faint when he saw the body, but much to his disappointment he seemed to be perfectly fine.

"Ah my poor dear," Ducky said speaking to the body "what could you possibly have done to make someone want to do this to you?"

"Maybe nothing Duck" Gibbs replied thinking through all the reasons why someone would do this to another human being.

"Time of death?" Gibbs added pulling out his notepad.

"I would say sometime between 22 and 23 hundred last night" Ducky replied.

Gibbs motioned to Palmer who immediately came over with the gurney. The entire team watched as Ducky zipped up the body bag she had now been placed in and helped Palmer load her onto the gurney.

"I'll tell you more once I've performed the autopsy" Ducky said and got into the van with Palmer.

"Let's go" Gibbs said gruffly and led the way to the van with Tony, McGee and Ziva following closely behind with their evidence bags and notes.

* * *

"Tony chop it out" Ziva shouted across the room as Tony threw yet another ink canister across the room at her, he had been dismantling his pens and doing this for the past half an hour.

"It's cut Zee-vah" Tony said sarcastically and threw another canister across the room.

"Tony what are you doing?" came Kate's voice, she had managed to enter the squad room without anybody noticing.

"Annoying Ziva" Tony replied causing Ziva to stick her tongue out at him.

"That's mature" McGee said looking up from his computer where he had been going through files to try and find a suspect.

Before Ziva could reply everyone turned to hear the ding of the elevator and saw Gibbs and Ducky exit.

"Hey Boss," Tony said and turned to Ducky "not often we see you up here Ducky"

"Yes well I just got all of your blood test results back" Ducky said and something in his tone made everyone think that something was wrong.

"And you came to tell us in person that we're all perfectly healthy" Tony said smiling.

"Well yes and no," Ducky explained "all the blood tests were fine..."

"Told you" Tony interrupted.

"EXCEPT for one" Ducky continued.

Everyone turned and looked at Ducky in shock before Kate suddenly spoke up "Whose was it?" she asked fearing the worst.

"Anthony," Ducky said looking to Tony "could you come with me please, we need to discuss your test results"


	66. Chapter 66: The Confrontation

"Wh...Wh...What's wrong?" Tony stuttered. This couldn't be happening. Not now. Not while everything was perfect.

"It's nothing to panic about Anthony" Ducky said trying to reassure him.

"Then why do I have to come with you?" Tony asked out of concern "you said all the blood tests came back were fine but mine. What am I supposed to think?"

"It's just for confidential reasons Tony" Ducky explained "I'm not allowed to disclose medical results with anyone other than the recipient"

"Well I give you permission" Tony sort of spat out, the anticipation killing him.

"Ok then. Well Mr. DiNozzo, you are slightly anaemic" Ducky said.

"What did you call me?" Tony asked.

"You've got low iron in your blood" Kate explained, relieved that Tony wasn't dying but suddenly Kate went quiet. Although she was ecstatic that Tony wasn't dying, she had suddenly remembered the phone call from Michael and remembered that it would only be a short matter of time before he was dying at the hands of her mother.

"Caitlin, are you ok?" Ducky asked, noticing her sudden quietness.

"Yeah, I'm fine" Kate said "but someone here won't be"

"What do ya mean?" Tony asked, looking around.

"Your Director doesn't seem too happy" Kate answered and motioned towards the staircase where Jenny was storming down the stairs, obviously not pleased with someone.

"Special Agent Gibbs" she bellowed as she got to the squad room "what exactly happened?"

"What the hell are you talking about Jenny?" Gibbs said.

"Where's Agent McGee?" she demanded.

"Uh here Director" McGee said, raising his hand.

"Where were you?" Jenny asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"Uh at the crime scene" McGee answered.

"And where were you meant to be?" Jenny asked again.

Suddenly it hit McGee. He was meant to help interview the new NCIS agents.  
"Oh I'm really sorry director" he apologized "we had our blood tests and then we got a case and it..."

"You forgot didn't you" Jenny said, obviously greatly disappointed.

"Yeah" McGee agreed, lowering his head to stare at the floor.

"Agent McGee because of your absence I was an agent short for interviews" she explained "I've had to schedule a couple for later this afternoon. You will be able to do them then won't you?"

"No he's busy" Gibbs said, taking a few steps forward "I need him for the case"

"Well I need him for this afternoon" Jenny retaliated.

"I had him first" Gibbs rebutted.

"Look at that McGee, mummy and daddy are fighting over you" Abby said, only recently joining the team in the squad room.

"Yeah I'm just worried" McGee said, not taking his eyes off Gibbs and the director.

"About?" Abby asked.

"I'm not sure whether or not I'm going to die" McGee answered, a hint of concern in his answer.

"Oh you're definitely going to die" Abby said in her usual cheery voice "the question is..." and she lowered her voice but remained excited "how slowly and how painfully"

McGee gulped and waited for the end result.

"I'm the director of NCIS and I am assigning McGee to interviews at 1300 hours this afternoon. Once he is finished you may have him back" Jenny said in a very final tone.

"But I need all my agents" Gibbs argued back, clearly not going to win and getting frustrated at this.

"Look I'll temporary re-assign Kate Todd if you need extra people but you can't have Agent McGee and that's final" Jenny said, ending the conversation and with that, she turned around and walked back up the stairs.

Everyone stood there in silence surprised by the random set of events, not daring to say anything just in case and it was Gibbs who broke the silence with delegating assignments again.

"Well what the hell are you all standing around for?" he asked, facing his team. "Ducky, you've got an autopsy to do. Abby the evidence won't test its self. DiNozzo, David, I want you to find out everything you can about our victim. Bank and medical records, an address, where she works, everything. Agent Todd..." Gibbs continued, turning to face Kate "now that you're working for me again, I want you to profile our killer. I want you to get inside his head and tell me who is insane enough to murder someone and then steal their organs. McGee...I want you to help Abby"

"But boss, I've got interviews" McGee retorted with concern.  
"Not for another 24 minutes. You're mine till then." Gibbs informed him and took a quick look around. "What are you all still standing here for? Go!" and with that, everyone ran from their position in the middle of the room to their designated jobs.

* * *

Tony and Ziva both slumped down in their chairs exhausted from interviewing several people and trying to find out who would want to kill the Lieutenant.

"I can't believe none of those people saw anything" Ziva said frustrated that they couldn't find a crack in this case.

"I know," Tony replied "Somebody had to have seen something, or noticed she was missing at least"

Ziva nodded and looked at her computer screen.

"I have an idea Tony" Ziva said a typed a few words into her computer. Both agents sat in silence waiting for a result, Tony jumped when Ziva's computer beeped indicating that she had found something.

"Ok," Ziva said reading from her computer screen "I searched through old case files for anything with our killers MO and I've got 2 hits that are exactly the same and 2 similar"

"Whoa Ziva that was brilliant I can't believe we didn't think of that sooner," Tony answered "Who are the other victims"

"Well 2 male and 2 female," Ziva explained "one of the female vitcims fit our killers MO exactly, chunk taken out of her thigh and organs removed but the other female and the 2 males were both found with only a chunk taken out of their thigh, their organs remaining"

"Wait how do we know about the thigh?" Tony asked wondering when that was discovered.

"Oh um Ducky told Gibbs when he examined the body before the autopsy and Gibbs told me when he rang us interviewing the victim's sister" Ziva replied.

"Ok well send these case files to Kate," Tony suggested "it might help with her profiling"

Ziva nodded and with a few clicks the files were sent. Tony was just about to ask Ziva something about the case when the elevator dinged and Tony turned to see Kate coming out of it.

"Hey," Tony said with a wave "how's the profiling going?"

"Not good," Kate sighed "I've been through so many possibilities and I just can't find what would possess a person to do this, I need more information"

"Well Ziva just found some past victims who fit the MO," Tony said smugly "would that help?"

"It might," Kate replied "I'm just about to go on my lunch break so I'll look over them"

Tony looked at his watch and noticed that he too was due for his lunch break.

"Mind if I join you?" Tony asked knowing that Kate would say yes.

"Well in that case we should go see my mother" Kate sighed knowing she couldn't put it off any longer.

"Huh?" Tony replied.

"I told you this before Tony," Kate explained "somehow my mother found out I'm pregnant and she wants to meet with us"

"Oh right," Tony said and got up off his chair, grabbed his jacket and walked over to Kate before turning to Ziva "Nice knowing you Officer David"

Ziva watched as Tony and Kate left dreading what Kate's mother would do to Tony.

* * *

"Do I really have to do this Kate?" Tony asked as Kate flattened down a piece of his hair.

"Yes Tony," Kate replied "It's better to get this over and done with"

Tony nodded and took a deep breath as Kate rang the doorbell. After a couple of seconds with no answer Tony turned to Kate and said quickly "Oh well she's not here let's go"

Kate grabbed Tony's arm and turned him back to the doorway just in time for him to see Kate's mother open the door and invite them in.

"You have a very nice house Mrs Todd" Tony said trying to be polite and break the ice at the same time.

Tony and Kate looked at each other nervously when Kate's mother ignored Tony and continued walking.

After what seemed like an eternity Kate and Tony finally arrived in the lounge room of the Todd's house.

"Sit" Mrs Todd said motioning to the empty lounge opposite to where she was going to sit.

Tony and Kate sat on the lounge and once Mrs Todd was satisfied they weren't moving she too sat down in her chair.

"Where is everybody?" Kate asked wondering where her father and her brothers were.

"Your father is at work, Brandon is out and Michael is making us all tea in the kitchen" Mrs Todd replied her eyes not moving from their position of staring at Kate and Tony.

"Ok," Kate said "so Michael said on the phone that you wanted to meet with me and Tony"

"Yes I did" Mrs Todd answered abruptly.

"Umm why?" Kate asked once she was sure that her mother wasn't going to say anything else.

"Didn't Michael tell you why?" Mrs Todd replied glaring at Tony making him feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Well yeah," Kate said not looking her mother in the eye "but I was kinda hoping he was lying"

"I wasn't" Michael answered as he came into the room carrying a tray filled with cups of tea. Michael placed a cup of tea in front of everybody but when he got to Tony, Tony held up his hand and said "Oh that's ok I don't drink tea"

When Tony caught sight of Mrs Todd's face he quickly took the cup of tea and added "there's a first time for everything"

Tony took a quick sip out of his cup before placing down on the coffee table..

"Um Mum," Kate asked cautiously "how exactly did you find out?"

"Michael told me" Mrs Todd replied glancing over at Michael.

"Not intentionally," Michael said defending himself "she overheard Sasha telling me"

"Isn't anything secret in this family?" Kate sighed throwing her hand sup in the air "She wasn't meant to tell ANYBODY"

"I'm glad she did Caitlin," Kate's mother replied "otherwise who knows how long you would have kept this from me"

Kate and Tony shifted anxiously in their seats, they both couldn't wait until this meeting was over.

"So tell me Mr DiNozzo," Kate mother said turning to Tony "what kind of man gets my daughter pregnant before she has a ring on her finger and how long were you intending on keeping this from me?"


	67. Chapter 67: Paralysed

"Well...uh...i..." Tony stuttered, lost for words. He had only really meet Kate's mother twice before. Once when they found out that Kate wasn't really dead and the second time when she caught them making out for the first time in the hospital room after Tony had been shot. Tony cringed. They weren't exactly the best first impressions that could have happened and judging from the events unfolding, his third one isn't any better.

"Well?" Kate's mother said impatiently.

"Look mum we were going to tell you eventually" Kate said, stepping in as Tony's defence "we were just trying to find the right time and to tell you in person"

"Caitlin I raised you better than that" Kate's mother said, this time sounding very disappointed and defeated "we, as Catholics, firmly believe in living our lives the way God intended. We believe in praising the lord and..."

"Mum I know" Kate said quickly. She knew her mother well and when anyone did something wrong, her mother used guilt and their religious belief as punishment and right now she couldn't feel any worse about what had happened.

"Well explain to be why you are no longer a virgin when you are not married" her mother said, continuing with the guilt trip.

"Mum it's not like we planned it..." Kate said; tears welling up in her eyes "I just..."

"I don't know what's happened to you Caitlin" her mother said with a sigh "you used to be such a good girl. You were going to law school and always went to church. Then suddenly you quit law and go into a profession that kills people..."

"Being a federal agent doesn't mean you kill people" Kate said softly, staring at the floor.

"Can you honestly tell me you have never taken a life?"

Kate sighed and said nothing because there was nothing to say. Her mother knew the answer.

"And then you get involved in terrorism, fake your own death, and when you finally come back and are given the chance to turn your life around, you end up with this...this...man who has probably slept with more women than he can count on his fingers _and_ toes"

"HEY!" Tony said, standing up. This was the last straw and he wasn't going to take it "leave her alone"

"And who are you to tell me what to do?" Kate's mother retorted, surprised that someone had raised their voice at her.

"I'm her boyfriend" Tony said "and let me tell you a thing or two. Yes I have had a few more relationships than you'd prefer and yes they all haven't lasted all too long but I will tell you this. I love your daughter more than anything else in this world. The day she 'died' was the worst day of my life. A part of me died when she did. And when I found out that she was alive, I risked my life to save her and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. She means everything to me and she has made 

me the happiest man on earth when she agreed to be with me. Now the happiest day of my life has arrived when she told me that she's having our baby. So I'm new to commitment but there's no one I'd rather share this new experience with than Kate and now we're going to have a family and life happily ever after and I don't want nor need your approval to live my life with her"

Kate's mother, Kate and even Michael who had pretended to leave but was actually standing around the corner were shocked at Tony's confession. Kate's mother was speechless and shocked, Michael was surprised and happy that someone finally stood up to his mother but it was Kate who felt a great rush of pride, love and respect for Tony and knew that, even though her mother disapproved, she had made the right decision after all.

"So if you're only going to sit there and make Kate feel like the bubblegum beneath your shoe then I'm not going to stand for it and we'll leave" Tony added as a final statement.

"Come on Kate" Tony added grabbing Kate's hand and dragging her out of the house as Kate's mother and Michael looked on in shock.

* * *

It had been almost 3 hours since Tony and Kate left on their lunch break and Ziva was getting worried. Not because of what Kate's mother was probably doing to them. Ziva had a pretty god idea what was going to be left of Tony. What worried her was if Tony actually survived Kate's mother, what would be left of him when Gibbs got his hands on him because he was 2 hours late.

Ziva heard a familiar 'ding' of the elevator and turned to watch no one walk out of it. 'Hmmm' she thought 'must be hearing things'

She was about to turned back to her computer when she was face to face with Abby.

"Where'd you come from?" Ziva asked, recovering from the quick shock she had received of Abby's sudden entrance.

"Umm well when a mummy and a daddy love each other very much..." Abby began.

"You know what I mean Abby" Ziva quickly said "what are you doing _here_, at my desk here"

"Oh right" Abby said, realising that Ziva was obviously not in the mood for jokes "I'm looking for Gibbs. Seen him?"

"No and right now that's probably a good thing" Ziva said, looking around just to make sure.

"Why?" Abby asked, "We love Gibbs"

"We won't when he murders Tony and Kate" Ziva replied "they're 2 hours late from lunch and when Gibbs finds out, he won't be happy"

"He won't hurt Kate" Abby shrugged "he loves Kate. You might want to hide Tony though. He's not so safe"

"I know" was all Ziva had a chance to say when the elevator doors opened. But instead of Tony and Kate making a well timed entrance, out came Gibbs and he already didn't look too happy. Abby gave Ziva a quick nod of encouragement before rushing out of the squad room.

Gibbs took one look around the room before bellowing "WHERE THE HELL IS MY TEAM?"

"Well it depends which team member in particular you're talking about" Ziva replied trying to lighten the mood but when she saw the look on Gibb's face quickly added "McGee's still doing interviews"

"And Kate and DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked still sounding extremely annoyed.

"Lunch break" Ziva answered hoping that would be the only answer Gibbs needed.

"When did they leave?" Gibbs said.

"About 3 hours ago" Ziva sighed knowing that there was no way she could lie to Gibbs and get away with it.

"Do you have any idea why they're over 2 hours late?" Gibbs asked accusingly as if by some way Ziva knew where everyone was all the time.

"All I know is they went to have lunch with Kate's mother," Ziva replied "don't ask me why, I don't know"

Just as Gibbs was about to say something else the elevator dinged and very angry looking Tony came into the squad room closely followed by Kate, whose expression was unreadable.

"Do you want to explain to me why you two are late?" Gibbs practically shouted as Tony got closer to him.

"No I don't," Tony snapped back "and frankly it's none of your business"

"It is my business DiNozzo," Gibbs replied "I am your boss and I need to know why your late?"

"Sorry to interrupt" came Abby's voice from behind Gibbs, everyone turned to notice that Abby had re entered the squad room.

"What's up Abs?" Gibbs asked with a sudden softness in his voice.

"Well I was up here before and forgot to tell you something" Abby explained.

After waiting a few seconds to see whether Abby would continue Gibbs got frustrated and said "Which is?"

"Oh well I forgot to tell you that Palmer told me that Ducky told him to tell me to tell you that Ducky wants to see you" Abby replied taking a deep breath when she'd finished.

"We'll finish this discussion later" Gibbs said to Tony before leaving the squad room and heading down to autopsy.

"Great," Tony groaned "I can't wait"

Abby took one look around the room and the grim look on everyone's faces before saying "Well if anyone needs me I'll be in my lab testing blood"

With that Abby walked out of the squad room and back down to her lab hoping that all her friends were back in their normal moods soon.

* * *

"What have you got for me Duck?" Gibbs asked as he entered autopsy.

"Ah Jethro I was beginning to wonder whether you got my message," Ducky replied "it was a bit of a risk passing it on through two people"

"I got it Duck, now what you got for me?" Gibbs asked again wanting Ducky to get to the point.

"Ah well I have completed my autopsy and found some rather interesting results," Ducky explained walking across the room until he was standing in front of the body "well obviously all her organs are missing so it's difficult to collect evidence but what's interesting is the amount of blood loss and lack of bruising on her wrists and also how clean these cuts are"

"What are you trying to say Ducky?" Gibbs asked.

"Well the bleeding from her thigh wound and the start of the wound in her chest indicates that this young lady was alive when our murderer cut into her" Ducky said a small grimace on his face before adding "which doesn't make sense because there are no signs that she struggled in any way when these cuts were made"

"COD?" Gibbs said pretty much already knowing the answer.

"Blood loss and shock" Ducky replied.

"Why do you think she didn't struggle Duck?" Gibbs asked wondering why somebody would let that happen to them.

"I'm not sure Jethro," Ducky answered "Abby's testing her blood now so we should have those results very soon"

Just then the small TV screen in autopsy turned on and Abby's voice could be heard saying loudly "ding ding"

"What?" Gibbs said confused turning to the screen where Abby was looking back at them.

"You know like the microwave when the food is ready," Abby replied but after seeing the look on Gibb's face gave up the joke "anyway I just got our lieutenants blood results back"

"And?" Gibbs said with anticipation.

"There were elements of Pipecuronium Bromide in her blood or its better known as Arduan" Abby explained.

"In English Abby?" Gibbs asked not understanding a word of what Abby had just said.

"It's a muscle blocking agent Gibbs; it paralyses all the muscles in the body. it's mainly used for skeletal muscle relaxation and management of patients undergoing mechanical ventilation but in this case it would have completely paralysed our victim" Abby explained.

"And that means?" Gibbs asked.

"That the lieutenant would have been completely conscious when our killer sliced and diced her" Ducky said bluntly, realising shocking way their victim died.

**_ Hi Guys! we recently read our story stats and saw that 228 people had read our story this month. That is so cool and we are so happy that so many poeple have read it although we did find it a little strange that we only got 3 reviews from all those poeple. We hope you enjoy our story and if we hit 10 reviews for this chapter then on our next post we will give you another two. Happy reading Kate & Emma_**


	68. Chapter 68: Tony Loses a Bet Big Time

"Gibbs is certainly taking a long time down there" Ziva said turning to Kate, who was sitting on the side of her desk, staring at Tony across the room.

"There's probably a lot to discuss" Kate explained, not taking her eyes off Tony "I mean there's a body down there with her organs missing. It's not really an open and closed case"

"I know that" Ziva sort of snapped, not meaning to though "what happened between you guys and your mother?"

"Believe me, you don't want to know" Kate said, this time turning to face Ziva "the short story is it didn't end well and I'm probably out of the will"

Ziva nodded and both women turned to face Tony again. Since his argument with Gibbs, he had remained sitting in his chair, staring at the black screen of his computer saying nothing, obviously still fuming from before. If Gibbs hadn't come back up to the squad room, then he probably would have done it for longer.

"So what was the cause of death Gibbs?" Kate casually asked, ready to continue with the case.

"Oh I dunno, probably the fact that some bastard stole her organs" Gibbs snapped, a million things going through his mind.

Gibbs looked around at the members of his team. When he noticed that McGee still wasn't back from doing interviews, he slammed his hands down on his desk.

"Where the hell is McGee?" he demanded, staring directly at Kate and Ziva.

"Uh interviews" Ziva said, quickly glancing up at Kate for backup.

"Yeah he still has a few to go apparently" Kate quickly added.

"According to who?" Gibbs bellowed.

"Me" came the director's voice from above, causing everyone to look up and watch her walking down the stairs towards them.

"I need McGee!" Gibbs yelled.

"Well so do I" Jenny said, reaching Gibbs and placing her hands on her hips "and since I'm the director of NCIS, I out rank you and I win"

"Interviews can wait" Gibbs said, keeping his voice raised and angry "I've got a psycho loose out there, drugging his victims with a paralytic so he can cut them open while their still conscious! I think this out ranks you interviews for rookie agents"

Suddenly there was a simultaneous gasp that filled the room from all members of Gibbs' team, including the director.

"What?" she gasped.

It was then that Gibbs realised that he hadn't yet told them the shocking new information on the case.

"Well apparently, the psycho cuts out a chunk from their thigh for some reason, then cuts them open from their chest down to their navel and removes their organs all while they've been drugged with some paralytic that keeps them from moving but keeps them awake" Gibbs explained.

"Are you serious?" Jenny asked in shock.

"No I commonly joke about situations just like this one" Gibbs said with sarcasm in his voice.

Jenny sighed. "I'll go get McGee" and she turned around and walked back towards the stairs, leaving Gibbs and his shocked team alone.

"So what now Gibbs?" Tony asked, finally speaking up and putting his frustrations aside for the present time being.

"We get to work" Gibbs said and began delegating jobs "Kate keep trying to profile this guy. We need to get inside his head as soon as we can. DiNozzo, David, keep working on finding out everything you can about her. I want an address in an hour. When McGee comes back I want him to work on her bank records. See if that indicates any information we can use. I'll be back" and with that, he turned around and left the squad room and into the elevator, leaving his team at work.

* * *

Tony turned to his right and looked directly across at Kate sitting at Gibbs' desk. Even though the present case was creeping him out and was extremely disturbing, he still couldn't keep his eyes off Kate. He still couldn't believe that they were getting married and having a baby. When he first met Kate, he had no idea they would end up where they were now.

He would have kept daydreaming about his future wife if his computer hadn't suddenly beeped, indicating that he had found something.  
"I got an address!" he cried, madly typing on his computer so he could access the file.

"I've got bank records!" McGee cried from over at his desk, seconds after Tony.

"I got a work address" Ziva cried from her desk.

"I got..." Kate began "nothing" and she slumped down in Gibbs' chair.

"Ok Laura Burns lived at 134 S Frederick Ave, Gaithersburg" Tony explained "the apartment she lived in was a rental so if we talk to the landlord we shouldn't have any problem getting access to it"

"Her bank records don't show anything abnormal" McGee added, jumping into the conversation "She paid her rent like clockwork, was careful with what she spent, she even sponsored a kid through world vision and she didn't have an excessive amount in her account to suggest a financial motive. If anything her money is a little lower than one would expect for someone so careful but that's probably because she withdrew two grand every month to help her father who suffers from dementia"

"That makes sense" Ziva said "she worked in the navy so she had a decent salary to help support her father"

"We already know that she worked in the navy" Tony butted in "that's why we're investigating her murder"

"I know but did you know that she worked on the ship HMAS Kingsley?" Ziva added with a smile.

"What's that got to do with anything?" Tony asked out of confusion.

"The HMAS Kingsley was the only ship that wasn't part of the war games that commenced a week ago" Kate explained, glad that she had something to contribute "they never sailed out because they had too many people missing. Most were out with colds or viral infections, a couple had family problems. Apparently Lieutenant Burns also didn't show up for duty but it was assumed that she was out sick and the navy were going to chase everyone up in a couple of days"

"Gee the one time the navy doesn't follow protocol" Tony snickered.

"They were...or did...sort of" Kate said, trying to work out how to phrase her words "they called her apartment but she never answered, obviously, so they asked a couple of shipmates and they all said that her mother had fallen sick and she was going to see her for a couple of days"

"But wouldn't she have to had applied for leave for that?" McGee asked.

"According to a shipmate by the name of...Petty Officer Jason Stevens" Kate said, reading off a piece of paper "she did but they only recently hired new people to work in the office and the requests hadn't been filed yet. Burns assumed that she had approval and left a few days ago"

"But she was only killed last night" Ziva pointed out "so there's a few days that no one had seen her"

"Hey how do you know all this?" Tony asked, suddenly realising the value of the information Kate had just given them "you said you had nothing"

"I said I had nothing in relation to profiling this creep" Kate explained sarcastically "once I realised that I was going nowhere I thought I'd find out where she worked and find out where she was last seen"

"Hey that was my job!" Ziva whined in a sort of high pitched voice.

"And yet Kate managed to do a better job" Tony teased "you're starting to get a bit slack there zee-vah"

Ziva rolled her eyes and went back to her computer; moments before Gibbs came walking into the squad room.

"We got..." Tony began but Gibbs interrupted him.

"I know DiNozzo" he said without looking at anyone and went straight for his desk, yanking Kate away with a quick pull of the chair. "You and David are going to her apartment and searching it top to bottom. Kate, you and McGee are going to that ship and finding out why they let a naval lieutenant go missing for two days without filing a missing person's report. After you finish that, DiNozzo and Kate will go to where ever her mother lives and interview her..."

"Uh boss I don't do so well with mothers" Tony protested in worry but Gibbs ignored him.

"McGee and David, you'll be coming back here and following up on whatever leads that you come across while on your first tasks. I want something decent to follow by closing. Got it?" he said and walked off towards autopsy.

"He does realise that Burns' mother lives in Pittsburgh" Kate said "that's like 4 hours away. By the time we finish with our first assignments, it'll already be closing time"

"Looks like you and me are going on a little road trip" Tony said with a smile and grabbed his coat off the back if his chair, gave Kate a quick kiss on the cheek and yelled "coming Zee-vah?"

Ziva rolled her eyes, grabbed her coat and followed Tony into the elevator.

"Where did Gibbs come from?" McGee randomly asked.

"Dunno, don't care" Kate answered grabbing her coat "we better get going. The ship isn't exactly docked around the corner" and she and McGee walked towards the elevator to wait for it to come back up again.

* * *

Both Tony and Ziva placed a hand on their guns as they entered Lieutenant Burns' apartment. Neither of them knew what they would find and both knew that it was possible that the killer could be there.

Tony and Ziva looked around at what had to be the cleanest apartment in history before relaxing and starting their search.

After a few minutes of searching and coming up empty handed Ziva decided she would take the opportunity to try and find out what happened with Kate's mother.

"So Tony," Ziva said as she looked through some pieces of paper on the bench "What happened with Kate's mum?"

"Wow Ziva just get straight to the point" Tony replied sarcastically sitting down in front of Lieutenant Burns' computer.

"Well it's just you seemed really upset when you came back," Ziva explained "I'm just curious as to what happened"

Tony clicked through a few folders before moving on to her emails.

"Nothing happened Ziva," Tony sighed "Kate's mum just hates me and always will"

Ziva nodded and continued searching knowing not to push the subject.

After a few awkward minutes of silence Tony finally found something on the Lieutenants computer.

"Ziva I found something" Tony exclaimed causing Ziva to drop what she was doing and come over.

"Looks like our Lieutenant had a jealous ex," Tony said with a grin "I found an email from a Jacob Saunders received 2 weeks before she was killed"

"What does it say?" Ziva asked hoping this was the break in the case they needed.

Tony turned back to the computer screen and started reading "How could you? I loved you and you go and sleep with him. You bitch I hope you rot in hell and I want to put you there myself"

"Hmm charming" Ziva mumbled.

"We'd better get this back to Gibbs" Tony said and printed the email before rushing out the door with Ziva following not far behind.

* * *

"It was the boyfriend" Tony yelled as he and Ziva entered the squad room.

"We don't know that Tony," Ziva replied "an angry email doesn't mean anything"

Tony just smiled at Ziva before handing the email to Kate who had only just returned herself.

"Ziva's right Tony," Kate said reading the email and handing it back to Tony "this doesn't mean anything; it doesn't link to the other murder"

"Actually it does," Tony explained "Jacob Saunders aka the writer of this email had an older brother called Blake aka our victim number one"

"So?" Kate asked not seeing Tony's point.

"I'm willing to bet that our Lieutenant slept with our victim number one and her boyfriend found out and killed them both" Tony said smugly.

"That's a good theory Tony but there's only one problem," Kate answered "we spoke to her crew mates and they said that Lieutenant Burns found out her ex boyfriend killed himself two weeks ago"

"So he had an accomplice," Tony replied "someone who killed Lieutenant Burns for him"

"I don't think so Tony" Kate mumbled.

"How much are you willing to bet?" Tony exclaimed certain that he was right.

"I'm not betting on a case" Kate answered indignantly.

"You scared Kate?" Tony said mockingly.

"No of course not it's just completely unethical and inappropriate" Kate answered.

"Hmm how about if I win you have to clean my house and cook me dinner for 3 months" Tony said ignoring Kate.

"Fine, since that's something I pretty much do anyway" Kate sighed "but if I win you have to do a nude run through NCIS including the Director's office"

"You have a deal," Tony said with a smile and he and Kate shook on it "Oh by the way I want lasagne first off and I haven't cleaned my bathroom in a month"

Before Kate could reply they were interrupted by Gibbs coming down the stairs.

"We got another body" Gibbs said and walked directly to the elevator.

Tony grabbed his badge and gun and followed Gibbs into the elevator with Ziva, McGee and Ziva following slowly behind.

"Hey Kate" Ziva said, "why did you pick something so humiliating for Tony? His theory works perfectly and it wouldn't be the first time that an accomplice murdered the ex girlfriend of his best mate"

Kate secretly smiled but said nothing as she stepped into the elevator where Tony and Gibbs were waiting impatiently.

"Because" McGee whispered into Ziva's ear as they too entered the elevator "Kate found out minutes before you two arrived that the ex-boyfriend's best and _only_ mate killed himself the same time the ex-boyfriend did. I'll explain details on the way"

Ziva didn't really care how Kate found out about the ex boyfriend before they did. The only thing she cared about was making sure she was there when Tony found out that he had lost.


	69. Chapter 69: Another Victim

It didn't take NCIS that long to reach the national park where victim number 3 had been left. They didn't know many details about the victim only that it was female, late 40's maybe and had the serial killers calling card.

The moment NCIS arrived at the crime scene, Gibbs jumped out and walked directly up to the officer on duty, leaving McGee, Ziva and Tony to unload the van.

"Special Agent Gibbs," Gibbs said introducing himself and extending his hand "you rang and said we have a body?"

"Sergeant Mark Goldman," the officer said, accepting the welcome handshake "and yes we do. She had no ID but we assumed she was one of yours"

"How so?" Gibbs asked, getting out his note pad to take notes.

"Missing a chunk out of her thigh and her organs are missing" Sergeant Goldman explained "rumour has it that you've got a nasty serial killer on your hands"

"It would appear so," Gibbs agreed, continuing with his interview.

"So what time did you find the victim?"

"Only about half an hour ago" the sergeant explained "I was doing my usual rounds around this area when a camper came running out of the woods screaming there was a dead girl. I responded immediately and when I saw the details I rang you guys"

"And where is this camper? We will need to speak to him too" Gibbs said, jotting down the last few notes.

"Uh over there" the sergeant answered indicating the direction with a quick flick of his head "he's sitting in my car. As you can expect he's a bit shaken by all this"

"I'm sure he is" Gibbs said, kind of mumbling it as he closed his note pad "I'll need finger prints from you to exclude them from those we find on the body and a number so we can keep in touch in case we have any more questions for you"

"Of course" Sergeant Goldman agreed "I'll give you my mobile number but you can always contact me down at the station" and after writing his number down in Gibbs' pad, he turned and walked towards his police car, followed by Gibbs.

* * *

For the last 10 minutes of McGee unpacking the truck, Tony had been spraying everything he touched with Lysol, and it was starting to get on his nerves.

"Tony why the hell are you doing that?" McGee partially snapped out of frustration.

"You're contaminating the crime scene with your nerd germs" Tony answered with another spray of Lysol on the evidence bag.

"You know there is no such thing as _nerd_ germs" McGee stated in annoyance.

"And now you know why" Tony said, sarcastically "I'm saving the world McNerd. Deal with it"

"Yeah well I'd rather have _nerd_ germs than run around the squad room naked" McGee retorted.

"No way McGee" Tony said, still rather cocky with himself "there's no way that I lost that bet. My explanation is perfect. No flaws, no changes I need to make and best of all Kate was wrong"

"Yeah your explanation _was_ perfect except for the part where the ex boyfriends only friend died with him," McGee grinned, now the cocky one "Kate found that out minutes before you and Ziva arrived back. She knew first hand that you were wrong and she played you for the idiot that you are"

"What!" Tony exclaimed "you're just joshing me aren't you?"

"I hope you don't value your dignity too much coz you won't have it once your done" McGee laughed, grabbed some bags and went to meet Kate and Ziva who were already walking down towards the body, which had a white sheet laying over it to hide it from passersby.

'_Dammit_' Tony thought and raced down the hill, almost falling over along the way until he caught up with Kate and grabbed her arm.

"Hey!" she exclaimed.

"We need to talk" Tony whispered, although McGee and Ziva knew what about. While they went to examine the body, Tony pleaded for his life.

"You know what" he started "I've been thinking. We're way too old to be placing silly bets and you were right. It is very unethical and inappropriate to do it over a case where someone tragically lost their life. So I say we should just call the whole thing off and call it a truce"  
"Nice try DiNozzo" Kate laughed "you're not weaselling your way out of it that easily"

"But you knew first hand that I was wrong. That's totally unfair and is so cheating" Tony whined.

"Just because I knew the outcome before we made the bet has got nothing to do with it" Kate said sarcastically "_you_ were the one who was so sure he was right. Who was I to put a damper on that spirit?"

"The moment you said that I had to do a nudie run around NCIS if I lost" Tony complained.

"I'm sorry Tony," Kate said, placing her hand on his shoulder as if she was comforting him "you lost and you know the price. We'll be in contact with details later" and she turned around and begun walking towards the body, with Tony yelling behind her;

"But we're getting married and I'm the father of your unborn child...YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!"

Realising that there was no getting out of it, Tony joined the rest of the team down by the river, and victim number 3.

"So, any ID?" Tony asked, glaring sideways at Kate, plotting revenge.

"No ID" McGee sighed, obviously and surprisingly upset "but there's no need for one"

"Why's that?" Tony asked, now getting concerned and worried at the same time.

"Because we know who victim number 3 is without any ID" Ziva explained, turning her head away from the body under the bloody sheet.

"WHO?" Tony asked a little louder because they were obviously avoiding telling him who it was.

McGee sighed, turned towards Tony with a look of sadness in his eyes and slowly walked over towards the body and ever so carefully, he lifted the sheet off the victim's face, making Tony gasp in horror.

Lying on the damp creek bed, under a white sheet covered in her blood and obviously with a big hole in her chest where the sheet dipped a little was ex-colonel Hollis Mann.

"Who is that?" Kate asked getting concerned "How do you know her?"

Tony looked up at Kate and saw the concern in her eyes; he had completely forgotten that Kate didn't know who Colonel Mann was after all she was supposedly dead when the team and she had met.

"This is Ex Colonel Hollis Mann," Tony replied with a sigh "her and Gibbs were together a while back"

"You mean together together?" Kate exclaimed not believing Gibbs could have a relationship.

"Yeah?" Tony answered looking back at Mann's cold and pale face.

"So what do we do?" Kate asked wondering whether they should act normally or not.

"I guess we just do what we usually do" Tony replied before suddenly regaining his composure and continuing "Ziva bag and tag, McGee crime scene photos and Kate you can sketch and then help Ziva"

Everyone on the team nodded before going about their tasks. Tony looked up the river bank and saw Gibbs heading towards them with Ducky and Palmer in tow.

Tony leapt to his feet and rushed over to Gibbs hoping to prevent him from getting to the crime scene.

"What have we got DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked as Tony came to a stop in front of him.

"Exactly what Constable Goldman said Boss," Tony replied "Women in her early to late 40's, chunk missing from thigh and her organs removed"

"Any ID?" Gibbs answered motioning to Ducky and Palmer to head over to the body.

"No none," Tony said "But Boss the rest of us can handle this if you need to go talk to any witnesses"

"Already done DiNozzo," Gibbs replied "turns out they didn't have a whole lot to say, now where's this body?"

"Ok well maybe you want to go back to NCIS to write case notes or something" Tony said clutching at straws.

"What I want DiNozzo is to go investigate this case?" Gibbs snapped "Now get out of my way"

Tony finally gave up and moved aside as Gibbs strode past him dreading the moment when Gibbs found out who was in that body bag.

* * *

As Gibbs got closer to the crime scene he could see the grim looks on everyone's faces. Ducky was looking at him with pity and sympathy and it was that look that alerted Gibbs to the fact that something was wrong.

Gibbs started picking up the pace and in little to no time at all he was at the crime scene with all eyes on him.

"Oh Jethro," Ducky sighed looking towards the body bag "I'm so sorry"

"Open the bag Duck" Gibbs said ignoring everyone else.

"I really think it's better closed" Ducky pleaded not wanting Gibbs to see Mann.

"Open the damn bag" Gibbs demanded.

Ducky took a deep breath before turning to the body bag and unzipping it. Gibbs showed no emotion as the face of Colonel Mann was revealed to him; he just stood and stared at her lifeless body wondering why this happened.

Gibbs nodded and turned away from Ducky indicating that he was finished.

"Mr Palmer," Ducky said waking his protégé from his trance "could you please take her to the van I have a couple of things left to do here first?"

"Of course doctor" Palmer replied and started to head towards the truck before he was stopped by Ziva.

"Hey Jimmy," Ziva yelled after Palmer causing him to stop and turn around "I've already taken most of the evidence we collected back to our van, but I just found this, could you place with the rest of the evidence for me?"

Palmer nodded and took the evidence bag containing the finger off a rubber glove before walking off towards the truck.

"Ok," Gibbs half yelled gaining back Ziva's attention "I want you all to search this river bank top to bottom if even a blade of grass is out of place I want it in an evidence bag"

Everyone knew the pain Gibbs must of been feeling but they decided it was best just to do as they were told and let him deal with it himself.

Kate headed over towards the bushes and was just about to start her search when she heard a stick break and saw something move in the bushes.

"Tony," Kate called causing Tony to rush over "I just saw someone in the bushes"

"Are you sure?" Tony asked wanting to be sure.

Kate nodded and pointed to exactly where she had heard the noise and seen movement.

"McGee with me" Tony yelled over to McGee before drawing his gun and turning to Kate and saying jokingly "If I'm not back in 10 minutes avenge my death" hoping to break any worry that Kate might have.

Kate watched anxiously as Tony and McGee entered the bushes guns drawn hoping that what she saw was just an animal or her imagination.

* * *

Palmer walked towards the NCIS van he had just finished placing Colonel Mann's body in the Morgue Van and was now heading over to put the evidence Ziva gave him away.

Palmer started thinking about what a shock this must have been for Gibbs, he had never seen him break over anything and Palmer couldn't imagine what he was going through.

Palmer opened the back door to the NCIS van and looked inside; he saw the sides of the back lined with boxes full of evidence and equipment. Palmer had always wanted to be an agent but he had just never been suited to it.

Palmer was just about to step inside the van when he suddenly heard a noise behind.

Palmer felt something blunt hit him hard on the head before he crumpled to the ground.

**Hey everyone, we know we promised two chapters so here they are. Sorry it took us so long to write we've been suffering from some writers block and weren't sure which direction to head in. We hope you're all happy with our latest update and we will try to get more chapters up ASAP.**

**As you may have noticed we named a character in these chapters Mark Goldman. This is as a tribute to an Australian actor named Mark Priestley who recently took his own life. Mark Priestley played Nurse Dan Goldman on the Australian series All Saints. He was a fantastic actor and Dan was one of our favourite characters. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends in this hard time. Australia has lost a great talent and All Saints won't be the same without him. We will pay further tribute to Mark by naming another character after him in further chapters so keep a look out.**

**If you or anyone you know suffers from depression please don't hesitate to get help. What you do could prevent you or someone you love from taking the same course as Mark.**

**R.I.P Mark Priestley you will be forever missed.**

**Love **

**Kate and Emma**


	70. Chapter 70: The Danger's Not Over Yet

"There's nobody there" Tony yelled putting his gun away as he came out from the bushes "must have just been some animal or something".

"I guess" Kate agreed, still slightly paranoid but she put it all down to hormones and went back to sketching.

"Ok well I can't really give you a time of death due to the fact the…I mean her body has been opened and exposed to the elements as well as the missing liver issue" Ducky sighed and slowly stood up "dear me. What a terrible waste"

Kate slowly walked over to Ducky and placed a sympathetic hand upon his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry Ducky" Kate said and gently rested her head on his shoulder as a sign of support.

Ducky slowly moved away from Kate and looked her directly in the eyes. "We mustn't dwell on what was lost but what we're going to gain" he said, giving a quick glance to Kate's stomach and he then turned to Tony "keep her safe"

Tony nodded and stepped forward, wrapping an arm around Kate's shoulder and pulling her close and one by one, each person turned to face Gibbs; who was standing a couple of meters downstream staring into nothing.

"Well" Ducky said, breaking the silence "I'm going to see what is taking Mr. Palmer so long"

"We'll keep going here" McGee agreed and turned back to taking photo's, although much more slowly than usual.

It took Ducky probably a good 10 minutes or so to get up the sloping hill. It wasn't a very big hill. In fact it really could have taken him a minute or two to get to the road at the top but he had kept turning back to look at Gibbs out of concern. This wasn't the first time he lost someone he loved to a murderer but the last time it ended up with him shooting the man responsible with a sniper rifle. It scared Ducky to think how he was going to react to Mann's murder.

By the time he reached the road, Kate had joined him.

"Is Gibbs going to be ok Duck?" she asked quietly.

"Oh Caitlin" Ducky sighed "it killed him when Shannon and Kelly were killed, and he died again the day you did. I just don't know how much more the poor man can take. He's not made of stone you know, even though it appears to be the case"

"I know Ducky" Kate agreed but she was cut short when she noticed something odd sitting next to the NCIS truck "Ducky" she said, cautiously "who's that?"

"WHY THAT'S PALMER!' Ducky cried and both he and Kate ran over to Palmer, who by now was sitting up against the truck rubbing the back of his head.

"Palmer are you ok?" Kate asked frantically, kneeling down to his level.

"Uh…I think…so" Palmer stuttered, obviously still a bit dazed by the recent violent attack.

"What happened dear Jimmy?" Ducky asked, beginning to examine the back of Palmer's head.

"Well I was bringing something up to the truck" Palmer said, beginning to recall events but began to panic "oh my god, I can't remember what I was bringing up…is that bad? Am I dying?"

"No, no, no" Kate said quickly to reassure him "it's ok. Just tell us what you _do_ remember"

Palmer nodded and continued "well I came up here and I opened the back door and I was about to step inside…or maybe I was about to sit down…no I'm positive I was about to step inside when suddenly BANG and the next thing I know I was waking up on the floor…which by the way is very unhygienic to be sleeping on because of all the ants and bugs that can crawl into your ears and…"

"Palmer!" Kate said, raising her voice to grab his attention back from la la land "stay with us"

"Oh right" Palmer agreed "and then I saw you guys running over here and well you guys know the rest"

"Who on earth would attack a medical assistant?" Ducky wondered out loud, while still checking palmer's head wound.

"I think I know" Kate said to no one in particular "TONY!"

In a matter of seconds, Tony was up the hill running towards Kate, probably beating the world record in the process.

"Are you ok?" he panted "what happened here?"

"Umm" Kate began and softly grabbing Tony's arm and lead him out of hearing distance for Palmer and Ducky.

"I think Palmer almost became victim number 4" she said in a whisper.

"Seriously?" Tony said shocked "are you sure?"

"I dunno" Kate said, keeping her voice low "it doesn't match the killer's mode of killing. None of the other victims were assaulted before they were dissected but who else would be hanging around here? I told you I heard something"

"Yeah I believe you" Tony said, grabbing Kate and keeping her as close as possible and using his other hand, reached for his radio.

"McGee, Ziva. Finish processing the scene as quick as possible. I think our crazy murderer is around here somewhere and I don't want to stick around any longer than we have to"

"How do you know that Tony?" came McGee's voice in reply from the radio.  
"The guy assaulted Palmer" Tony confirmed "and my gut tells me he's still here. Move it"

"Aye, aye" McGee agreed and obviously went back to work because Tony could only hear static coming from the radio.

Tony looked around at now their second crime scene and then down at Kate, resting her head against his chest and wondered when this was ever going to end and whether or not they were going to find this psycho.

* * *

It had been about half an hour since Ducky had convinced Palmer to go to the hospital and now everyone was sitting in the waiting room waiting for news on his condition.

Tony and Kate were sitting together in a corner not saying a word to each other but you could tell just by the way they were looking at each other that they were deeply in love.

Tony was just about to say something to Kate when they both looked up to see Gibbs coming over to them. Everyone had been very worried about Gibbs he hadn't said a word or even looked at anyone since they left the crime scene; Tony was beginning to think that maybe he should be the one seeing a doctor.

"Don't you two have somewhere you have to be?" Gibbs said not making eye contact with Tony and Kate.

"Umm I don't think so" Kate replied thrown off by Gibbs suddenly talking.

"Aren't you due for an ultrasound around the five month mark?" Gibbs asked as if it was no big deal.

"WHAT?" Tony and Kate exclaimed in unison wondering how the hell Gibbs had found out that Kate was pregnant.

"Well we're already at the hospital you may as well do it now" Gibbs said remaining calm and still not making eye contact.

"Well yeah...I guess" Tony stuttered "but how did you know?"

"Not now DiNozzo," Gibbs snapped "just go for that ultrasound"

Before either Tony or Kate could object Gibbs walked away from them and past a gob smacked McGee back into his seat. Tony got out of his seat slowly and pulled Kate up with him. Neither of them looked at Gibbs as they walked off towards the obstetrics department to see if their obstetrician could fit them in.

* * *

Palmer sat on the hospital bed holding a compress to his head. Ducky was sitting on a chair in front of him making sure that he didn't have a concussion or something.

"Seriously Doctor Mallard I'm fine," Palmer said for about the billionth time "you can leave I'll be fine until the doctor comes"

"You may be fine Mr Palmer," Ducky replied "but you are my assistant and I am not leaving until you have been given the all clear"

Just as Palmer was about to protest they were interrupted by a male nurse entering the hospital room.

"Hi...Mr Palmer," the nurse said reading of Palmer's chart "my name is Dan Priestley and I'll be your nurse for today"

"It's about time we've only been waiting for half an hour" Ducky snapped causing Palmer to jump a little after all Ducky hardly ever got angry at anybody.

"I'm sorry about that," Nurse Dan explained "but there was just a bus crash and all our doctors are backed up in the emergency room, I've been sent to clean your wound and stitch you up and a doctor will come down to assess you ASAP"

Palmer nodded and gingerly removed the compress that he had to his head so Dan could do his job.

"Wow someone did a number on you," Dan said pouring some saline solution into Palmer's wound causing him to grimace in pain "you are definitely going to need a few stitches, could be concussed to but we'll have to wait for the doctor to establish that"

Ducky watched as the nurse did his work thinking how lucky Palmer was that the killer didn't have time to finish the job. The last thing the team needed was to lose another member. Jimmy may not know it but he was a vital part of the NCIS team and Ducky loved having him as his assistant.

* * *

As Kate and Tony sat in the empty room, the same thought was flooding through their minds. '_How the hell did Gibbs know? They hadn't told him yet'_ they probably would have continued sitting there in complete silence had it not have been for the obstetrician walking in.

"Ah Caitlin Todd" he said rather chirpily "what can I do for you today?"

"Umm nothing really" Kate said, still not used to all this pregnancy talk "I'm just here for a routine check-up"

"Well I'm glad to see you" the obstetrician said "lately we've been getting a few new mothers who think they can do everything without an ultrasound and regular check-ups"

Kate simply smiled and didn't mention the fact that she was kind of planning to skip this visit.

"Now you must be Mr. Anatomy DeNoseo" he observed, reading off Kate's charts.

"That's Anthony DiNozzo" Tony corrected him "but you can just call me Tony"

"Ok well if you want to lie down" the obstetrician said, turning to face Kate "and lift up your shirt and we can start"

"There's no way she's showing you what's under her shirt" Tony said rather quickly and springing up off his chair.

"Tony it's ok" Kate said, grabbing his arm and lowering him back onto the chair, remembering that this was Tony's first ultrasound "just my lower stomach"

"Ok" Tony agreed but continued to keep a close eye on the obstetrician just in case he got a little to personal with his fiancé.

"Well everything seems to be going fine," the obstetrician said as he ran the transducer probe on the ultrasound machine over Kate's stomach "would you like to know the sex?"

"We can do that now?" Tony exclaimed, he had expected he would have had to have waited longer for that.

"Yep around the 5 month mark is when we can usually do that sort of thing," the obstetrician explained "as long as the baby is in a good position"

"What do you say Kate?" Tony asked turning to Kate who had a huge smile on her face "do you wanna know?"

Kate nodded and grabbed Tony's hand as the obstetrician turned back to the screen and had a look around.

"Ok from what I can tell," said the obstetrician "you two are going have a healthy baby..."


	71. Chapter 71: Bambino

"So explain to me again how Gibbs already knew that Kate was pregnant?" McGee asked Abby for the third time in 10 minutes.

"Because McGee" Abby sighed "Gibbs knows everything. He's got eyes everywhere and never misses a thing"

"There's also the fact that at 5 months Kate isn't exactly _not_ showing" Ziva added, looking up from her seat in the waiting room.

"There's that" Abby agreed and raised a finger in the air to add seriousness "but nothing gets pass Gibbs"

"Meh" Ziva shrugged "There's a few things that Gibbs doesn't know about me and I plan on keeping it that way"

Before Abby had a chance to retaliate, Ducky walked around the corner and took a seat next to Ziva in the waiting room.

"How's Gibbs?" Abby asked concerned and surprised. She hadn't even noticed Ducky leaving the waiting room following Gibbs.

"Not good" Ducky replied "Although he's trying not to let it show, you can tell that Mann's death has affected him and whoever is responsible is going to wish they never went down this destructive path. Where are Caitlin and Tony?"

"Uh they're still at their ultrasound" McGee explained "they've been there for a while. I hope nothing bad has happened"

"Nah we're fine" Tony said as he walked around the corner, escorted by a beaming Kate.

"Did you see the baby?" Abby asked excitably, jumping up from her seat like a rocket.

"Of course we saw the baby" Kate laughed.

"And, and?" Abby begged "how'd it go?"

"All is good" Tony confirmed "baby's healthy. Everything's on track and if we're lucky, it'll take after me"

"Ah no, no, no, no" Kate said quickly, placing her arms up in front of her as defence "let's hope not. I don't want this poor child to be cursed with a sense of humour like yours"

"Hey! What's wrong with my sense of humour?" Tony cried out, feeling insulted "I happen to find it quiet amusing"

"Exactly my point" Kate laughed, shaking her head.

"So what is it?" McGee asked, redirecting the conversation.

"What is what?" Tony asked, genuinely confused.

"The baby" McGee explained "what is it?"

"A baby?" Tony said, not exactly sure what McGee was asking.

"No Tony" Ziva laughed "McGee wants to know...well we'd all like to know...is the baby a boy or a girl?"

"Not telling" Tony smiled evilly.

"That's not fair!" Abby protested "you can't keep important information like this to yourself!"

"Technically I'm not keeping it to myself" Tony said sarcastically, keeping his devilish grin "Kate knows too"

"Kayyyy...te" Abby said, walking up to Kate and linking arms "you know how we're best friends and after everything I've done for you over the years. I mean I technically brought you back from the dead and without me..."

"It's a girl Abby" Kate laughed. She couldn't take Abby's begging any longer.

The second Kate told Abby the valuable information, Abby and surprisingly Ziva started jumping up and down screaming like school girls with Kate while McGee and Ducky calmly approached Tony and shook his hand in congratulations.

"So the young Mr. DiNozzo here is having a daughter" Ducky said, stating the obvious while shaking Tony's hand "you must be really proud"

"I'm still getting used to the idea that I'm going to be a father" Tony said, slightly out of reality "now that we know what it's going to be, it's starting to sink in...Sort of"

"Just imagine Tony" McGee said, slapping him on the back "all the pooping and the crying and the messes and did I forget to mention the pooping and the crying and the..."

"Hey be nice McGee" Abby said; bringing over Kate and Ziva "this could be us one day"

"God I hope not" McGee said to himself. The only problem was instead of it being the mumble under his breath that he intended; he had said it completely normally; earning himself a nasty glare from Abby".

"Not that a baby is a bad thing" McGee quickly said, trying to save himself but practically digging himself a deeper hole "I mean a baby is a nice thing...I mean great thing and I'd love to have one day...just not this day...but a day later sometime in the future...not too far in the future though...but not too close to the present either...but"

"McGee" Ziva said stepping forward and whispering into his ear "I'd take your hand out of your mouth before Abby kills you"

"You mean my foot?" McGee asked confused, his pulse still racing.

"Yes" Abby agreed hands on her hips, glaring evilly in his direction "your size 10 foot out of your size 12 mouth"

McGee agreed and quickly shut his mouth before he said anything else worse that would end with him lying next to Mann on Ducky's autopsy slabs.

"So what are you going to call her?" Ziva said, changing the subject "I think a nice Hebrew name like Delilah would be beautiful"

"Delilah sounds like a horse" Abby snickered.

"If you must know Delilah means "The beautiful temptress" Ziva retorted, sticking her tongue out.

"Well actually..." Kate began but was interrupted by Abby.

"Well I think a name like Delaney or Melinda would do well" she said, folding her arms.

"Uh guys..." Kate tried again but with no luck.

"No way!" Ziva exclaimed "Delaney means 'dark challenger' and Melinda means 'black serpent'"

"I know, cool huh" Abby agreed.

"Well what about something like Rose or Grace?" McGee suggested, adding in his two cents.

"GUYS!" Kate almost yelled, this time getting everyone's attention.

"We don't know what we're going to call the baby yet" she began "but when we do it'll reflect somewhat on our religion or nationality. Understand?"

Everyone looked at Kate shocked at her sudden outburst but when they saw the look on her face they just nodded and looked to the ground.

Before anyone could say anything they were interrupted by Palmer entering the waiting room rubbing the back of his head and looking a bit shaken.

"Mr Palmer how are we feeling?" Ducky asked still worried for his young protégé.

"My heads still a little sore," Palmer replied "apparently the pain killers should kick in soon, but the doctor said I only had a mild concussion so I can go home"

"I would be more than happy to give you a lift," Ducky sighed "but I have a body waiting for me in autopsy that I really must attend to"

"I'll take him," Ziva said quickly, a little too quickly Tony thought "and you're quite welcome to sleep on the couch if you like"

"No I just want to go home" Palmer argued knowing exactly where this was going.

"Well considering you have a concussion you are not going home to an empty house," Ziva ordered before grabbing Palmer's hand and practically dragging him towards the door "now come on"

Once Tony was sure Ziva and Palmer were out of earshot he turned to Kate and said gloatingly "See I told you"

"Tony," Kate sighed sick of his theories "Ziva was just being friendly, she probably doesn't like hospitals and was jumping at the chance to leave"

"Yeah but offering her couch," Tony replied not giving in so easily.

"I would have done exactly the same thing," Kate answered "Jimmy shouldn't be alone with a concussion and Ziva knows that"

"I'd love to stay and listen to more of your theories Anthony," Ducky interrupted coming to a stop in front of Kate and Tony "but I really have to go and perform Mann's autopsy"

Kate and Tony nodded knowing how hard this autopsy would be for Ducky and knowing he would want to get it done before Gibbs got back to NCIS.

Ducky waved quickly to the other NCIS member in the hospital waiting room before leaving the hospital.

"Where is Gibbs?" Tony asked remembering he hadn't seen him since he had forced them to go for an ultrasound.

"Ah he said something about going for air," McGee said trying to grab Abby's hand but getting frustrated when she pulled it away "he might be outside"

"How long has he been gone?" Kate asked worried for Gibbs.

"Umm about 45 minutes," McGee answered "bout the same as you guys"

McGee, Abby, Kate and Tony all sat in silence pondering whether or not Gibbs would be able to handle this case when Tony suddenly thought of something.

"Hey guys," Tony said thoughtfully "I just thought of something regarding our killer"

"What?" Kate replied wondering what Tony could have discovered that she hadn't.

"He'd have to be highly trained in some way," Tony stated "especially to be able to murder Mann"

"How do you figure that Tony?" McGee asked relieved that Abby seemed to have forgiven him and was now resting her head on his shoulder.

"Well Mann isn...wasn't exactly incapable of defending herself," Tony explained "I mean she was an ex colonel she probably could have beaten most of us with her hands tied behind her back...except maybe Ziva"

"So your thinking he could be a marine or in the navy?" Abby exclaimed shocked that someone who dedicated their lives to their country could do this.

"Yeah something like that" Tony sighed realising what this meant for their case.

Before anyone could respond they were interrupted by Gibb's voice coming from the doorway of the hospital.

"Are you quite finished discussing theories or are we going to wait for our killer to turn himself in willingly?" Gibbs snapped obviously not happy that they were wasting time.

"Sorry boss," Tony replied quickly turning to face Gibbs "we'll go back to NCIS now and find out as much as we can"

"McGee and Ziva can do that," Gibbs ordered looking around the room "where's Ziva?"

"She took Palmer home;" McGee replied "she won't be back in till tomorrow"

"Right well you and Abby can go back and process the evidence we gathered at the scene," Gibbs said calming down a little and turned to Kate and Tony "you two go home and get some sleep"

"I want to help you catch this guy Boss" Tony replied almost whining.

"I know that DiNozzo," Gibbs snapped "but you can do that tomorrow"

Tony knew arguing was hopeless so he just gave a short nod and grabbed Kate's hand. Kate waved goodbye to McGee and Abby and followed Tony as they walked out the door of the hospital.

* * *

"Here Tony I'll drive," Kate said taking the keys off Tony as they exited the service station after they had stopped at to get something to eat "you look exhausted"

"No Kate its fine," Tony sighed yawning at the same time "I can do it"

"Just get in the car Tony, home is just around the corner I'm sure I can manage" Kate replied sarcastically and proceeded to get in the car closely followed by Tony.

* * *

After been on the road for about five minutes Kate was forced to stop when she came to a build up of traffic on the main road.

After a few seconds Kate began drumming her fingers on the steering wheel before moving forward a couple of inches as the traffic moved forward a bit. Tony smirked before turning to Kate an saying very sarcastically "Did you ever notice, when you are sitting in traffic, that when the person in front of you pulls up a couple of inches, you are compelled to move up too?" Tony started throwing his arms around for emphasis before continuing "I mean do we really think we are making progress toward our destination? It's like _Whew, I thought we would be late, but now that I am nine inches closer, I can stop for coffee and a Danish"_ Kate rolled her eyes before moving forward just a couple more inches just to annoy Tony. Tony laughed and turned to face the traffic in front of them wondering how long it would take to get through it.

* * *

It had taken about 20 minutes before Kate and Tony had managed to get off the main road and turn into the one that led to their house. Kate had only been driving on this road for a couple of minutes but she had that eerie feeling that someone was watching them. Kate looked in her rear view mirror just in time to see a police car behind them turn their sirens on.

Kate let out a frustrated sigh and pulled over onto the side of the road.

"Tony wake up," Kate said gently shaking Tony who had fallen asleep not long after they left the service station "cops pulled us over"

Tony slowly woke up and looked to Kate's window where a medium sized man with brown hair was bent down waiting for Kate to open it.

"Is there a problem officer?" Kate asked as she wound down her window.

"License and registration please" The policeman asked bluntly ignoring Kate's question.

Kate pulled her license out of her wallet and quickly took her registration papers from Tony who had grabbed them out of the glove box for Kate.

"What's going on?" Kate asked handing the officer what he had asked for "I know I wasn't speeding and there's nothing wrong with the car"

Once the officer was satisfied that nothing was out of place with Kate's papers he handed them back through the window and took a deep breath.

"We just had a robbery over in Arlington the perpetrator is believed to be headed this way in a car matching yours description" the cop explained.

"Well this is a very popular car officer" Tony said feeling sympathy for the cop who had obviously pulled over many cars tonight and not having any luck.

"Yes that is the problem," the policeman sighed "have a nice night"

"We hope you catch your guy" Kate said with a smile. The police officer smiled back and gave a wave before walking away from the car and getting back into his.

Once he had driven off Kate looked at Tony who had already gone back to sleep and smiled to herself before she too pulled away from the curb and started once again for home.

* * *

McGee and Abby had been back at NCIS for about an hour now and were going through all the evidence that had been logged at the scene.

"Shoe print" Abby said reading off the list.

"Check" McGee replied holding up a photo of a shoe print.

"Umm finger off a glove" Abby said once again reading off the list.

McGee started searching through the evidence looking for what Abby had just read out.

"McGee," Abby repeated more loudly this time "Glove finger"

"It's not here" McGee exclaimed getting panicked.

"What do you mean?" Abby asked wondering how evidence that was logged couldn't be there.

"I mean that a piece of crucial evidence is missing' McGee replied realisation daunting on his face.

* * *

_**Hey sorry it took so long again for this to be posted. We made this chapter a little longer than usual to make up for it so we hope this helps. Also many of you might be confused on the chapter name. The title** bambino** actually means "baby girl" in Italian (aka Tony lol). Hope you like this chapter and we'll try our best to be quicker. Believe me, the story gets better very soon!**_

**_Kate and Emma_**


	72. Chapter 72: An Unforseen Twist

"How can it be missing McGee?" Abby blurted out, spinning around to face McGee "that evidence could help us find our killer before Gibbs does"

"Before Gibbs?" McGee repeated "why do we want to find the killer before Gibbs?"

"Because if we don't find him before Gibbs does, then there'll be no body for us to prosecute and when I say us I mean you guys" Abby explained.

"Good point" McGee agreed "you sure the finger tip isn't in there?"

"Positive McGee" Abby replied, hands waving all over the place "I've checked everything. Who was bagging evidence? Maybe they misplaced it"

"It was Ziva" McGee answered, grabbing his phone out of his pocket "Ziva, we need to borrow you for a sec...I know you're watching palmer...can't you leave him for a second or three?...well can't you bring him them?...it's not that hard to wake someone Ziva...ok hanging up now"

"So, where's the glove finger thingy?" Abby asked, bouncing up and down in anticipation.

"I didn't get a chance to ask" McGee said, staring at his phone like it was about to blow up or something.

"Why not McGee?" Abby demanded "that was kinda the point of ringing her"

"Well after I told Ziva that it wasn't too hard to wake palmer up she...kinda...uh...threatened me" McGee explained.

"What did she say?" Abby asked, suddenly intrigued.

"Something about she has my phone number, she knows where I live and she knows where I work and something about dying slowly and painfully" McGee answered, confused and worried at the same time.

"You know, I'm starting to think that maybe ton'y's right about the whole Ziva and palmer thing" Abby said with a smile.

"Not you too" McGee whined "seriously no offence to palmer but there's no way that Ziva would date him. He's not her type"

"And what is her type?" Abby asked, hands on hips.

"Not palmer" was all McGee answered.

"So anyway back to our lost finger tip, who's going to ask Ziva where she lost it?" Abby said, looking directly at McGee as if there was no need for an answer.

"I'm not accusing her!" McGee stammered "not after that last phone call and besides, Ziva gave it to palmer so if you're going to accuse anyone it's him"

At McGee statement, Abby suddenly froze up.

"Did you say Ziva gave it to palmer?" Abby repeated.

"Yeah so it's his fault" McGee said, with a nod of his head.  
"The same palmer who was clobbered over the head by some mysterious stranger who very well could have been the killer" Abby hinted.

"yeah...oh" McGee said quickly, just realising what he had just said "so this means that it wasn't some random guy who hit palmer but it really was our killer and he stole the evidence because it could expose him"

"Exactly" Abby agreed, glad that McGee finally figured it out.

"That was close" McGee said, a little shaken by the thought of being so close to the physio that was murdering people.

"Too close" Abby agreed "which is a bad thing. It means that's he's confident enough to kill people can clearly defend themselves as well as steal evidence from a crime scene with half a dozen armed agents around. This guy is good"

"Gibbs is not going to be happy" McGee sighed and began dialling a number.

"WAIT!" Abby cried "you can't call Gibbs and tell him that Mann's killer was so close and you missed him"

"Me?" McGee repeated.

"Well I wasn't there" Abby complained.

"I wasn't calling Gibbs" McGee sighed "I was calling Tony and Kate. They should know what's happening"

"Good point McGee" Abby nodded and turned back to her computer to try and analyse a mark that Ducky had found on Mann's leg while McGee informed the other members of their team.

"Ok explain this to me again" Kate asked tony. They were lying on the couch watching one of tony's favourite movies _Superman_ and even though it was a fictional movie, Kate had the annoying habit of analysing a movie and pointing out every possible flaw.

"Why do the bullets ricochet off superman's chest but he ducks when the gun is thrown at him?"

"Kate" tony whined, even though she had a good point "it's a movie. It's not supposed to make sense"

"But they're supposed to make a _little_ sense" she rebutted "and explain this to me. If superman's so smart then why does he wear his underwear on the outside? What kind of a person would do that?"

"The kind of person who figures that saving the world is more important than worrying about his appearance" tony sighed.

"But that's got to be embarrassing" Kate stated.

"Probably is" tony replied "now can we keep watching the movie?"

"One more" Kate said, shifting on the couch so she was facing tony. Tony rolled his eyes but allowed her to continue.

"Ok why does superman wear glasses when he's Clark Kent but not when he's superman?"

"Because it's his disguise" tony explained.

"But you can clearly see that superman and Clark Kent are the same person" Kate complained, bolting upright in the sofa "how is it no one else sees it?"

"Kate," tony said, joining her in the upright position "it's a movie. It's not meant to make sense and they were probably drunk when they made it. Ok"

Kate simply gave tony a funny look as tony's phone rang and after kissing her on the cheek, he got up to answer it, leaving Kate watching the movie. A dangerous decision because it was allowing her time to think of more questions.

"Tony its McGee" came McGee's voice from the phone.

"Oh thank god," Tony exclaimed into the phone relieved to have a break from Kate's constant questions "I'm so glad you rang"

"Um really...why?" McGee stammered shocked at Tony's enthusiasm.

"Kate and I are watching Superman together" Tony explained.

"Isn't that one of your favourite movies?" McGee asked not sure why Tony was happy he was interrupting his movie.

"It was," Tony replied "until I watched it with Kate, geez she takes things so logically"

"Right," McGee said trying to change the subject "Do you think you and Kate could come in we've had a break in the case?"

"Sure we'll be there in about 20" Tony answered wanting to catch this guy.

Tony hung up the phone and walked back into the lounge where Kate was still watching Superman her forehead creasing even more as something unrealistic happened. Tony just rolled his eyes and picked up the remote to the TV and turned it off.

"Hey I was watching that" Kate exclaimed turning to Tony.

"More like analysing," Tony smirked before grabbing Kate's arm "come on where going back to NCIS"

"Why?" Kate asked not particularly wanting to go back to where they just left.

"Because Abby and McGee have a break in the case" Tony said grabbing Kate even more firmly and dragging her out the door.

"Honey I'm home" Tony hollered as he entered Abby's lab with Kate following not far behind.

"Hey Tony, Hi Kate" McGee and Abby said at the same time not looking away from Abby's computer screen.

"You said you had a break in the case" Kate said trying to get their attention.

McGee slowly turned away from Abby's computer and got up walking over to Tony and Kate.

"Well we know why Palmer was attacked and who he was attacked by" McGee explained not taking a breath.

When McGee failed to continue on Tony gave him a small slap on the back of the head.

"Oh right," McGee said realising they didn't know what was going on "well we think Palmer was attacked by our killer"

"But that doesn't make sense McGee," Kate interrupted "it doesn't fit his MO or the profile I've been working on"

"No it doesn't," McGee replied smugly "but we don't think he intended on killing Palmer, we think he left something behind at the scene that could be traced back to him"

"Oh my god," Kate exclaimed realisation dawning on her face "the evidence Ziva asked him to take to the truck"

"The tip of a finger off a glove to be precise," McGee said pointing to the evidence on the table "it's the only piece of logged evidence that's missing"

"But why take that?" Tony asked.

"Because Tony," Abby replied making it seem as though it should be obvious "It's the only piece of evidence that we can trace back to the killer and get a fingerprint from"

"I thought the whole point of gloves was to not leave fingerprints" Tony said with some sarcasm.

"It is," Abby explained "by wearing gloves you don't leave fingerprints on the object you're touching but that doesn't mean you don't leave a fingerprint inside the glove"

Tony nodded his head in understanding and looked around the room.

"Why aren't Ziva or Gibbs here yet?" Tony asked thinking Gibb's would be the first one McGee and Abby would call.

"Well Ziva is still watching Palmer," McGee replied "and after Colonel Mann's murder we didn't want to have to tell Gibbs we let the killer slip through our fingers with vital evidence"

"Good point" Tony mumbled then looked towards Abby's computer. Tony noticed that Abby's program had finished running the mark on Colonel Mann's leg and had identified a match.

"Umm Abs," Tony said causing Abby to look up at him "Your baby is beeping".

Abby quickly rushed over to her computer and started typing quickly on the keyboard.

"Ok well good news is I've identified the mark on Mann's leg" Abby said but not as excited as she should be.

"Abby that's great," Kate exclaimed just joining the conversation.

"Yeah but you're not going to like what it is" Abby mumbled sighing as she took another look at her computer screen.

"Abby what is it?" Tony said forcefully needing to know if this led them to their killer.

"Look" Abby said moving out of the way so everyone could see her computer.

Tony, Kate and McGee all leaned in and looked at Abby's computer. A united gasp could be heard in the room as everyone realised what they were seeing. There in front of them was an indentation of a badge from the Baltimore Police Department. Although they were now possibly dealing with a cop everyone knew that this could finally be the evidence they needed to lead them to the psycho they were searching for.


	73. Chapter 73: Game On

"Ok so the killers a cop?" Kate asked, stating the obvious.

"Yeah from the same department that Tony used to work at" Abby announced and slowly turned towards Tony with an accusing glare.

"Hey don't look at me like that" Tony whined in his own defence "there are 10 Precincts in Baltimore so the guy could be from any one of them"

"Seriously!" McGee whined out loud "do you know how long it's going to take us to find one single guy, who we have no more evidence on that his badge imprint, in 10 precincts with about 1900 people?"

"Yes I do McGee" Abby replied, back to her usual chirpy self, odd for the current situation.

"And?" McGee said, trying to lead Abby into giving him her answer but all Abby ended up giving him was a 'you got a lot of searching to do' and walked into her ballistics lab, although no one knew why.

"So..." Tony said, finally breaking the ice "how DO we find a single guy, who we have no more evidence on that his badge imprint, in 10 precincts with about 1900 people?"

"We go straight to the top" Kate said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"And we're supposed to do that how?" Tony replied sarcastically "just ring up the head guy, whoever he is, and say 'we've got several dead bodies. Any of your guy's dunnit?"

"Close" Kate answered with a giggle and reached for Abby's phone "watch the master at work" and she began to dial numbers, placing the phone to her ear once she was finished.

"Hello, this is Special Agent Caitlin Todd from NCIS. May I speak to Colonel James Johnson?"

"Hello, this is Colonel Johnson speaking. How may I help NCIS today? I hope this is a social call"

"I'm sorry to say that it isn't. As I'm sure you're aware, we have a serial killer on the loose" Kate continued.

"I'm aware" Colonel Johnson agreed.

"Well he's just killed victim number three and I know we're clutching at straws here but our forensic scientist managed to get an imprint of a Baltimore police badge off the victim's leg"

"What are you saying?" Colonel Johnson asked, raising his voice a little.

"Well" Kate continued "we're not accusing anyone of anything. What we need to know is who was on patrol in the Washington area on the dates of the 30th of September the 4th and 24th of October"

"Why do you need to know that? That's confidential information" Colonel Johnson said, obviously getting annoyed at Kate for possibly accusing him of not doing his job properly.

"Because I did my own little research" Kate continued, with a smile on her face "and I, and a little birdy, worked out which areas are patrolled at different times and which ones over lap and the victims were all found in the one patrol area. Now either someone on your police force killed those innocent people or they know someone who did. Either way, we need to speak to...whoever a.s.a.p"

Kate waited for a moment for the Colonel to retaliate but instead he gave her a short list containing two names of police officers who were on duty those nights.

"Thank you very much for your co-operation" Kate said politely into the phone.

"You're welcome" Colonel Johnson answered "I really hope you catch this guy"

"You and me both" Kate said as she hung up.

"Hey!" Abby cried, returning from her still unknown trip to the ballistics lab "how did you work out what the different patrol areas were? I usually do that!"

"It pays to know people in high places" Kate grinned "ok the two guys, and our new suspects, are Probationary Officer Cameron Sullivan and Sergeant Tony Hollands. So I say we call Ziva and pay these guys a visit"

And with that Kate walked out of the room, closely followed by Tony.

"I bet you the killers the Sergeant" McGee said to Abby as Kate and Tony left the room.

"Why's that McGee?"Abby asked.

"Coz the guys name is Tony" McGee smiled and walked out.

* * *

"Sooooo what do we do?" Tony asked in a loud whisper. After coming from Abby's lab they usually would go up to the squad room to tell Gibbs what he would already know but the moment they got up there and saw Gibbs, grimly sitting in his desk, they all stopped dead in their tracks and hid behind the stairs, unable to pluck up the courage to speak to him.

"I don't know" Kate whispered back "I've never had to tell Gibbs bad news before"

"But we're not telling him bad news" McGee said, slightly confused "we're telling him _good_ news"

"Yeah sure McGee, telling him we have a lead is usually good news" Tony agreed "but if that good news is started by "we know who killed Lieutenant Mann" then it becomes not-so-good news"

"I see your point" McGee sighed but still looked worried at the same time "but what are we going to do? Stand here spying on Gibbs waiting for us to blink and then he is suddenly behind us madder than ever?"

"McGoogle has a point" Tony agreed turning to Kate "so you used to protect the President, what would you do in this situation?"

"I can safely say this has never come up working with the President" Kate pointed out and with a huge sigh; she walked out from behind the stairs and towards Gibbs.

"What the hell is she doing?" McGee asked in a panic.

"About to get us all killed" Tony gasped and both men ran out, hoping they could grab Kate before she reached Gibbs but they were too late.

"Gibbs, we've had a development in the case" she said, formally and without a hint of emotion.

"Like?" Gibbs asked, not looking up from his desk and in a tone that basically said 'like it's going to be any good'.

"We've found out where the killer possibly works and even his name...or their names" Kate began, this time a little hesitation in her voice.

"WHAT!" Gibbs cried, leaping up from his desk "I want who, what, where, when, how and why and I want it ALL delivered in 5 seconds"

"Umm their names are Probationary Officer Cameron Sullivan and Sergeant Tony Hollands. They work in a police department in Baltimore and that's about all we got" Kate explained.

"DiNozzo, McGee grab your stuff" Gibbs ordered as he grabbed his gun and badge and shoved them on his belt.

"Hey boss, what about me?" Kate asked, wondering why she wasn't going too.

"How far along are you?" Gibbs asked quickly as if there was no time for this stupid conversation.

"That's all the information we got so far" Kate explained "I just said that"

"No in your pregnancy" Gibbs quickly corrected her.

"Almost 7 months now" Kate answered "but...."

"You're not going anywhere" Gibbs informed her and after grabbing his coat, was half way to the elevator before Tony and McGee had a chance to blink.

"Well what do I do?" Kate yelled after him, waving her hands in the air.

"Get me more information on these bastards" Gibbs shouted back, rapidly pressing the elevator button.

"And then?" Kate added, continuing their discussion half way across the room.

"Ring Ziva?"

"So she can help me?"

"No so she can get her arse to the police station" Gibbs yelled as the elevator doors closed, right in Tony and McGee's faces.

"What now?" McGee asked, turning to a shocked Tony.

"We grab the stairs and hope that Gibbs doesn't leave without us" Tony answered and the two agents raced as fast as they could towards the stairs, leaving Kate with the big decision of whose desk to sit in.

* * *

"Umm you do realise we passsed that pizza place twice now Gibbs?" McGee asked, turning towards Gibbs in the driver's seat "if you just turn right at...."

"Shut up McGee" Gibbs snapped and kept driving.

"I'd be careful McGee" Tony warned his colleague "when Gibbs is as mad as he is at someone he usually drives in circles"

"Usually?" McGee repeated.

"Ok not usually but when he's as mad as he is now it IS best not to backseat drive"

"I'm in the front seat" McGee said, turning back to face Tony.

"No one likes a smart arse" Tony retorted sarcastically and sat back in his seat just as his PDE gave a few beeps.

"Kate's got info boss" Tony reported.

"Lets hear it" Gibbs said, not taking his eyes off the road, which in this case was a good thing at the speed he was travelling at.

"Ok Probationary Officer Cameron Sullivan only graduated 6 months ago. Before that he worked as a teacher aide in a special school in L.A" Tony explained, reading off the PDE.

"He went from a teacher aide in a special school to a cop? That's a weird change" McGee said.

"Apparently he had a 9 year old son, Darcy, who had cerebral palsy and passed away a year and a half ago" Tony continued "After the son's death, he and his wife divorced and he moved here. Joined up 2 weeks after he moved here, progressed extremely well and graduated sooner than expected"

"So he exceeds" Gibbs said thinking out loud "our serial killer seems to be doing pretty well"

"In homicide boss" Tony corrected him "Sullivan is apparently training for dog squad. You need to spend at least 3 years doing normal duties before you can specialise"

"So we have plenty of people who kill and have had no professional experience" McGee butted in.

"I know that McGee" Tony said "but apparently the only part that Sullivan didn't exceed in was homicide. He passed but only just. If it was him killing we'd know"

"So it has to be the other guy" McGee suggested.

"Sergeant Tony Hollands" Tony continued "has been working in the force for 10 years. He was up for a promotion earlier this year but turned it down. Doesn't have a record. Doesn't even have an overdue library book. What he does have though is a bad temper. He's been warned a few times for excessive force and even had 2 formal warnings put into his record"

"And yet he's still in the force" Gibbs asked.

"Apparently...." Tony said and paused to make sure he was reading this right "...he apparently has the best record of solving homicide cases and even studied forensics on the side as an interest"

"So he would know exactly what Pipecuronium Bromide would do to a person and would have some idea how to kill and dispose of a body without anyone seeing or leaving evidence" Gibbs said as more of a statement than a question.

"Do you even have to ask boss?" Tony said with concern and grabbed hold of his seat as the car suddenly had a great burst of speed, this time taking that right that McGee had suggested 3 circles ago.

And as they made their way towards the police station, they already had the gut feeling they had their guy and they were going to make him suffer....as legally and humanely as possible.

* * *

_**To all our VERY loyal readers,**_

_**We know we've said this a few times but we are really sorry that we haven't updated in a while. Now that it's coming to the end of the year, our jobs in retail have obviously become very busy and we've picked up a lot of extra hours and days. On top of this, assignments are due for our studies and practicals need to be finished. Now that we're up to date with most things, we should be able to get back into the swing of posting more often. We thank everyone who's stayed with us in our slacking off stage. We hope you still really enjoy the story and we can promise you that, although we are coming to the end of "Dead or Alive" (not yet but not far off) there will be one more major event about to occur (no it's not Kate having their baby although that happens too). We will aim to keep it as exciting as possible and hopefully keep you all guessing till the very end.**_

_**Again thank you Sooooo much to those who keeping waiting forever for us to write. We PROMISE that we will write as soon as we can (our aim is at least once a week)**_

_**Till next time,**_

_**Kate and Emma**_


	74. Chapter 74: Kate and Abby's Revenge

As they neared the police station in question, something in tony's gut made him squirm with excitement. They were so close to nailing the serial killer and tony knew somehow that, even know it wasn't going to end today, the end was near and his child could grow up in a world where this guy was spending the rest of his life 6 feet under.

"Tony!" McGee called; tapping on tony's window and bringing him out of his trace "you coming?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world Probie" tony answered, unbuckling his seat belt and getting out of the car "where's Gibbs?"

"Already inside I assume" McGee replied "the moment we pulled over, I turned to unbuckle me seat belt and when I turned back around he was gone"

"That quick?" tony asked.

"I barely had time to touch my door handle" McGee responded with a sideways glance.

"Well we better get in there. Who know how many cops are left after Gibbs gets started" tony suggested with a sigh.

"But we're only after two" McGee stated "why would he kill everyone else?"

"well after he kills the first two there would most likely be World War 3....or probably 174 after the 6 or so years we've all been working with him" tony explained, counting on his fingers trying to remember exactly how many years it was.

"we've all been working with him for 6 years now" McGee said placing a hand in tony's shoulder "obviously the female co-worker changed once or twice but you get the basic idea" and with that, he began walking towards the station door, tony trailing not far behind, just waiting for the perfect time to slap him.

"for the last time this was not a question" Gibbs repeated, the tone of his voice suggesting that violence was soon to follow "I want to talk to Probationary Officer Cameron Sullivan and Sergeant Tony Hollands now and if I don't see them in front of me in oh let's say five seconds, you'll be calling in the janitor to clean up the mess I make"

"Are you threatening us" the office that Gibbs was yelling at asked.

"No I'm not threatening you" Gibbs said calmly, which after this previous yelling, was unsettling "I'm making you a promise that I intend to go through with if you keep stone walling me"

"What is all this noise about?" came a voice from down the hall, which apart from Gibbs yelling something very loudly, was the first thing tony and McGee heard as they entered the station "Senior Constable Corner, can you please explain the situation to me"

"Sir, we I was just doing those speeding tickets as you ordered and...." the senior constable started to explain but was cut off.

"I don't care what you were doing" the man said and thrust a finger towards Gibbs "I want to know what he was yelling about"

"oh right" the senior constable said, now jumping to the chase "this manic just barged in here, followed shortly after by two men who are probably maniacs also but haven't yet had the chance to yell at me and he, the first manic, started demanding to see Sullivan and Hollands"

"what the hell are you talking about?" the senior officer asked, dumb founded and trying to register what his officer said "can you translate that into English for me please? And speak slowly; I don't want you to repeat it a third time"

"Ok" the senior constable said "this man" he pointed at Gibbs "barged into this office and demanded to see Sullivan and Hollands and then those two came in and...."

"Have they said or done anything yet?" asked the senior officer.

"No"

"Then I don't care about them now do I" the senior officer asked, talking as if he was speaking to a three year-old.

"Gee aren't we loved" tony mumbled sarcastically in McGee's ear as the men in front of them continued.

"Not really" the senior constable replied.

"Then can you get back to work while I talk to the maniac...ok"

"Yes sir" the senior constable answered and returned to his desk.

"Ok" the senior office sighed, turning to Gibbs "I'm Senior Sergeant Jared Barnes. I'm in charge here. What seems to be the matter?"

"I'm Special Agent Gibbs. These two maniacs behind me are Agents DiNozzo and McGee. We're here investigating the serial killer who's killed 3 people in the past couple of weeks"

"I can assure you Agent Gibbs that my superior rang me shortly after a rather stubborn and pushy agent of yours rang him and I am completely up to speed with what's going on" Senior Sergeant Barnes assured him.

"We'll we need to speak to Probationary Officer Cameron Sullivan and Sergeant Tony Hollands in regards to their whereabouts and activities on the dates I'm sure you were told"

"I can give you Sullivan but I'm afraid that Tony Hollands is out sick today" he explained.

"Out sick with what?" Gibbs asked, getting curious.

"Never really said" Senior Sergeant explained "just said contagious and couldn't come in. He's required to bring in a medical certificate when he returns to work anyway and if it's longer than a day I personally chase them up myself"

"Ok well we'll need Sullivan now and Holland's address. We'll pay him a personal call just to make sure he's ok" Gibbs said, grabbing his note pad from his pocket.

"I'll get him" the senior sergeant sighed "you can use the interrogation room" and with that he turned and walked down the hallway and heading into what looked like the tea room or something similar.

"You sure showed him boss" tony laughed but one look from gobs and he quickly shut up. As they waited for the senior sergeant to get his officer, McGee looked at his watch and turned to tony, whispering only loud enough for tony to hear.

"Hey where's Ziva? She should have arrived here way before us if Kate rang her" he asked.

"What do you mean _if_?" tony quickly rebutted "of course she rang so why isn't Ziva here? Where was she in the first place?"

"She was taking care palmer remember" McGee said reminding him "although I didn't think he needed that much taking care of"

"See this is what I've been telling you guys all along!" tony cried, almost jumping in his spot and attracting the attention of all the officers in the presient.

"Come on tony" McGee whined, starting to get sick of tony's ridiculous theories "there is no way that Ziva is dating palmer! They are so totally different"

"Come on McGee...they're so together" tony continued, not even paying attention "she went AGES ago to 'take care' of him...now she hasn't showed up. Seriously McGee if there isn't something going between the two of them then I don't know what is" tony said, still completely convinced that he was right,

"then you clearly don't know what is because she's here" McGee pointed out, pointing towards the door as a slightly tired Ziva who was in fact still wearing the same clothes she had on the day before.

"I knew it!" tony cried.

"Knew what?" Ziva asked, hoping to catch up on lost information before Gibbs came back.

"You and the autopsy gremlin" tony said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Me and palmer?" Ziva repeated in shock and disbelief "are you crazy?"

"You can deny it all you like but we all know the truth" tony teased with a laugh.

"We know the truth but you're delusional" McGee mumbled to himself but it was loud enough to warrant a dirty look from tony.

"Are you all finished or are you ready to work?" came Gibbs' voice from behind them.

All three agents jumped at the random voice and spun around to face Gibbs, whose face was showing little emotion and this can be a dangerous thing when you don't know what Gibbs is thinking.

"Yes boss" McGee said, speaking on everyone's behalf "we're ready to interview Probationary Officer Sullivan. Is he in the interrogation room?"

"No" was all Gibbs said.

"Why not boss?" tony asked "that's where the senior dude..."

"Senior sergeant" Gibbs corrected him.

"Same difference" tony said rolling his eyes "that's where the senior _sergeant_ said he was going to put him"

"And he did" Gibbs said casually with a shrug.

"And why isn't he there bossing?" Ziva asked, slowly becoming a part of the case again.

"Already interviewed him" Gibbs shrugged "he didn't do it"

"When did you have time to do that?" tony asked in surprise.

"Probably when you two who became three were discussing Ziva's sleeping choices" Gibbs said, the tone suggesting that, although he appeared calm, they were so getting a head slap.

"Right" Ziva said, blushing slightly causing McGee and tony to turn and face her. Blushing wasn't something Ziva did often....or ever!

"So did you get the address for the other dude?" tony asked, slowly turning away from Ziva and facing Gibbs.

"Yep"

"So where are we going" tony asked, eager to continue on with the case.

"Not telling" Gibbs said with a smile.

"Why not?" McGee asked. Although instead of him simply asking it, it seemed to have come out as a childish whine, which made several of the surrounding officer's smile.

"because if you had been in the interrogation room you would have heard it and since it is part of your job to be in there, I have to assume that you were listening and have written it down" Gibbs said rather too smugly and added as he began walking out of the presienct "and it'd be a shame if you didn't do your job and copy down the address too"

"Why's that boss?" tony asked, getting concerned.

"Coz you're driving us there" Gibbs yelled over his shoulder as the doors closed behind him, leaving tony, McGee and Ziva standing there wondering how they were going to bluff their way out of this one.

* * *

"12...13...14...15....16..." Kate continued counting. After working her butt off and giving tony the information on the two officers, she had absolutely nothing to do and it was driving her insane. It had been almost 2 hours now and with not one work from anyone, Kate had become so bored that she was now spinning in circles on her chair, a decision that she'd soon regret "17...18...19..."  
"KATE!" Abby yelled running into the squad room, causing Kate to suddenly jerk the chair to a halt. The spinning room however was slightly less co-operative.

"Yes Abby" Kate said, holding her head as the dizzy feeling swept over her "how may I help you?"

"How many fingers am I holding up?" Abby asked, holding up three fingers in front of Kate's face.

"Enough" Kate answered "what is it?"

"well I was innocently going to photocopy some case notes to stick in the folder...as you do...when suddenly the photocopier started going nuts and throwing paper everywhere" Abby explained.

"Why?" was all Kate had the stomach to ask.

"well your dear husband of yours" Abby began.

"Fiancé" Kate corrected her "haven't married the guy yet"

"And when are you going to do that?" Abby asked, placing her hands on her hips and completely changing the conversation "you've been engaged to the guy for how long?"

"a while" Kate answered, room slowly coming into view.

"Exactly! Are you _ever_ going to get hitched?" Abby asked "I mean yes that's a really nice ring and if I had one I'd rub it in people's faces 24/7 but come on....i wanna go to a wedding this centenary"

"We're going to get married" Kate said, defending herself "one day...someday....eventually...."

"you're running out of time" Abby informed her, referring to Kate ever expanding stomach "that thing is going to get married before you two do"

"Abby, I assume you came up here for a different reason than to complain about tony and my lack of organisation" Kate said, steering the conversation back on track.

"Oh right" Abby remembered "anyway your dear _fiancé_ of yours has been playing practical jokes on me all week. His latest one, for which I do applaud for originality , left the copy machine on set to reduce 200%, extra dark, 17 inch paper, 98 copies. I'll be cleaning up that mess or hours!"

"Abby it doesn't take hours to clean up 98 pages of paper" Kate laughed.

"yes well when you have to pick it up, dispose of it, sneak out of NCIS without Gibbs knowing, buying more ink and sneaking back in to replace it, it does" Abby elaborated, counting on her fingers.

"True" Kate agreed "but how are you going to get him back?"

"Interested?" Abby asked, grinning devilishly.

Kate stood up from her chair and placed an arm around Abby's neck "Abby my dear, there are so many possibilities"

* * *

*** Sorry we didn't up date in a while.....the chapters had been written but for some unknown reason they weren't posted....so here's two to make up for it and the next one will be up on Wednesday....look out for it!***

**Kate  
**


	75. Chapter 75: Not over yet

"Turn left here tony" McGee instructed in a whisper.

"But I turned left the last three times that we past here" tony complained, also in whisper mode.

"Do you think Gibbs has noticed?" Ziva asked.

"Course he has" tony observed "no one sits in the back seat and smiles like that normally"

"Why did he get in the back seat again?" McGee asked.

"Something about just in case we don't know where we're going, it's more comfortable to sleep" Ziva answered.

This whispering had been going on for half an hour now. Technically the trip should only take 10 minutes and Gibbs was enjoying watching the event slowly unfold as he sat in the back, eyes closed just enough so they would assume he was asleep.

"Come on tony, we need to do something?" McGee continued whispering.  
"Oh like what McGee?" tony asked, his whisper now gathering a slightly higher pitch of annoyance "Gibbs knows we have no idea where we're going"

"Duh" Ziva agreed "maybe we should just admit defeat and get this over with"

"Need to be somewhere Zee-vah?" tony teased.

"That's none of your business DiNozzo" Ziva snapped in defence.

"ooohh touchy" tony smiled and continued driving.

"When you pass that rest stop again can you pull in? I need to use the head" came Gibbs' voice from the back seat, causing everyone to spin and face him. His eyes were still 'closed' and this was adding to the nervousness of his agents.

"Is he awake?"

"No McGee he speaks to us in his sleep"

"He could tony. I talk in my sleep sometimes"

"Do you have conversations in your sleep?"

"Sometimes"

"You can't communicate with another person and fully follow the conversation McGee and you certainly can't noticed when tony passes a rest stop 50 times"

"I haven't past it 50 times"

"49 then"

"Nuh huh"

"Yeh huh"

"Nuh huh"

"Yeh huh"

"Uh guys, Gibbs is looking at us funny, it's scary" McGee said interrupting their very quick and whispered conversation.

"Finished?" Gibbs asked.

"Yes boss" came a unison answer from the three of them.

"Good, then stop here" Gibbs instructed, resulting in tony pulling up along aside a very old house that clearly needed repairs.

"We're here?" tony asked "I pasted this place like a hundred times boss! Why didn't you say anything?"

"You never asked" Gibbs said causally and got out of the car.

"you never asked" tony mumbled to himself, clearly not impressed with Gibbs sarcasm and motioned for Ziva and McGee to get out of the car too and all four of them walked up the stairs to Sergeant Hollands house and knocked on the door.

It didn't take long before a woman who had clearly just gotten out of bed answered the door.

"Who are you and what do you want?" she snapped.

"I'm Special Agent Gibbs and they are..." Gibbs began.

"I really don't give a crap who you people are. All I want to know is why you're here so you can leave" she barked.

"Ok we're here to speak to Mr. Hollands" Gibbs informed her.

"Why?" the woman asked rudely, leaning up against the frame of the door.

"Because we need to ask him a few questions in regards to a case we're working on?" Gibbs explained.

"And you want him to do your jobs for you?" she snorted with a small laugh.

"No, we need to ask his whereabouts on several nights in relation to the murders that have been happening on the last couple of weeks" Gibbs said, clearly not impressed with the woman's attitude.

"He was with me" she shrugged.

"You don't even know which nights I'm referring to" Gibbs said.

"Yeah I do....the two nights when them people was murdered" she said "sumthin like end of September and early October or something close to that anyway"

"How can you vouch for his whereabouts when you don't even know the date's mam" Gibbs asked.

"Just can" she answered "he's been with me ever since I got out of jail. By orders of that stupid judge"

"Jail huh?" tony asked "what for?"

"None of your business" she snapped.

"Are you two involved?" Gibbs asked, jotting everything down.

"God are you some kind of freak!" she cried in disgust "he's my brother! I don't know what kind of a world you live in but here it's considered illegal!"

"I was just asking mam" Gibbs informed her "and I still need to talk to him"

"He's in bed sick" she said "and you're not coming in here and givin him more germs"

"We can always get a warrant and then give him our germs" Gibbs said, forcefully placing his notepad in his pocket, clearly not going to get anywhere this morning.

"Well you do that" she said and closed the door in their faces.

"Well wasn't she pleasant" tony said to no one on particular.

"DiNozzo, you and McGee so back to NCIS and get me that warrant" Gibbs instructed.

"What about me boss?" Ziva asked.

"You're staying here and making sure they don't do a runner" Gibbs answered.

"And you?" tony asked carefully.

"Head" Gibbs answered and got into his car.

"Hey boss, how are we getting back?" McGee asked quickly.

"Catch a cab" Gibbs answered with a smile as he drove out of the drive way, leaving his agents to sort themselves out.

* * *

"This is evil" Abby grinned as they did some finishing touches on Abby's revenge to tony.

"Evil but fun" Kate agreed.

It hadn't taken them long to complete it and not long after they put it back into its original position, tony and McGee came through the elevator.

"Hey you" tony said as he reached Kate and gave her a quick kiss on the lips "what have you been up to?"

"Nothing much" Kate answered with a grin "how's the case going? Where are Gibbs and Ziva?"

"Ziva's at the sergeant's house, Gibbs is uh with her" McGee answered from his desk as he was putting his gun and badge away.

"He means Gibbs is going potty and then joining her while we get a warrant" tony translated with a laugh and he too, sat down at his desk.

"Won't he let you in?" Kate asked.

"No we never got a chance to talk to him. His sister won't let us in and I'm in no rush to get back to her either" tony replied.

"That nice huh" Kate laughed and went back and sat at her desk at the far end of the room.

"A gem" tony replied sarcastically and began typing away at his computer.

"So..." Abby said, swigging her arms by her side "what do you want to talk about?"

"I need a warrant" tony said.

"I need to find something to give Gibbs and hopefully he doesn't kill us for this morning" McGee added.

"I was going to follow up on a few things too" Kate answered as well.

"hmm....i see" Abby said, looking around "I'm sure I can find something better to do in my fun and exciting lab, which is more fun and exciting then this boring squad room where people are sitting and doing boring stuff being boring"

"Abby..." McGee said.

"Yes McGee my dear" Abby replied happily.

"Can you do me a favour?"

"Of course McGee. You know I'd do anything for you" Abby answered sweetly.

"Can you pick up my dry cleaning? We've got my sisters graduation tonight and I need my suit" McGee said.

"Pick up your dry cleaning?" Abby repeated, making sure she heard it right.

"yeah and make sure that you get the one that goes really well with that black dress that everyone likes" he added "I want to show you off tonight"

"Anything for you" Abby said, giving him the glare that he deserved and walked away.

* * *

"He loves me, he loves me not. He loves me, he loves me not" Ziva said as she picked blades of grass one at a time.

Gibbs still hadn't returned from his little venture and tony and McGee we certainly taking their time. And sitting on the sidewalk wasn't exactly the most exciting job there was.

"You do realise that using grass for that, you're going to be here for a while" came a voice from behind her.

Ziva spun around and standing there was a rather tall man, wearing nothing more than boxers and a singlet and obviously suffering from a cold or similar.

"Mr Hollands?" Ziva asked taking a wild guess.

"Yeah" he answered, a bit surprised that a random stranger knew his name.

'Oh thank god' Ziva thought and she stood up and extended her hand.

"Ziva David" she said "I work for NCIS and was wondering if I could ask you a few questions"

"Since when do navy cops come this way?" he asked.

"We're investigating a series of murders in this area" she explained "do you mind answering a few questions for me?"

"Will you stop up-rooting my lawn?" he joked.

"Immediately" Ziva agreed.

"Go ahead" he said.

"Ok. All the murders where in a very similar spot so I was wondering if you could tell me your whereabouts on the nights of the 30th of September and the 4th and 24th of October?" Ziva asked.

"Here with my sister" he answered "since she got out of jail, the judge said I have to babysit. She's got a curfew so I can't go out at nights no more and I don't have much of a social life either"

"Ok" Ziva said, jotting a few things down on her notepad. It was surprising her that Hollands seemed a much nicer guy than what his profile made him out to be.

"Ok I just need to ask you about the two formal warnings you've received"

"Why do you need to know about them?" he asked, the question obviously touching a nerve.

"Just curious" Ziva answered.

"I got into a couple of fights at work" he answered eventually "people say I've got a temper and there are people who rub me up the wrong way, so I hit em' "

"You do realise you don't hit someone because they rub you up the wrong way right?" Ziva asked.

"Yeah but it makes me feel better" Hollands replied.

"Ok do you know what Pipecuronium Bromide is?"

"Yeah"

"And do you know what it would do to a person"

"Yes, where is all this coming from?" Hollands asked, his niceness slowly being replaced with suspicion.

"Just asking. Ok well I'm going to need to get in touch with you again sometime in the near future. Will I be able to find you here?" she said, packing up her notepad.

"Yeah guess so. I have the flu so I'm not really going anywhere" Hollands shrugged.

"Will I be allowed in the house?" Ziva quickly added, referring to his sister.

Hollands understood who she was referring to.

"Yeah I'll make sure that Angel isn't a bitch" he agreed.

'Angel! How could that woman be called Angel!' Ziva thought to herself as she walked down the street in the direction Gibbs had left in, hoping that if he was to return sometime soon that she could scab a lift.


	76. Chapter 76: Payback

Tony sat silently in the squad room twiddling his thumbs, Ziva was due back any second now and not one person had said much since she left. Everyone knew the importance of this interview and they were all hoping that they had found their guy.

"Tony are you ok?" Kate asked noticing how much Tony was fidgeting.

"Yeah I'm fine," Tony sighed dropping his hands to his lap "I just really want to catch this guy before he kills someone else"

Kate nodded knowing exactly how Tony felt she wanted this killer caught as well she refused to have child in a world where he existed.

Everyone suddenly turned to look at the elevator as it made the all too familiar dinging noise. Ziva walked into the squad room looking around and wondering why every pair of eyes was on her.

"Umm hi," Ziva said confused as she walked over and sat down at her desk "What's down?"

"It's up Ziva," Tony replied calmly "and we all just wanted to know how you went talking to Hollands"

"I don't think he did it" Ziva said confidently maintaining eye contact so everyone would know that she really believed he was innocent.

"Why's that?" McGee asked joining in the conversation for the first time.

"He was just...I dunno....too nice," Ziva explained "he was perfectly polite and besides that he had an alibi for the night of the murders which I checked and it checks out"

"Hmm, is it possible someone could be lying for him?" Tony asked clutching at straws.

"Nope," Ziva replied "I've got security camera footage that proves he was there"

Tony folded his arms and slumped back into his seat.

"Look like we'll have to go interview Sullivan again" came a voice from the stairs that led to MTAC.

Everyone turned to see Gibbs standing on the stairwell obviously eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Well come on then" Gibbs demanding causing everyone to jump up from their seat.

Tony grabbed his brand new leather jacket off the back of his chair and headed towards the elevator while McGee and Kate grabbed their weapons and did the same thing.

"Not you Kate," Gibbs said suddenly putting his hand out to stop Kate going any further "you're staying here"

"Oh but..." Kate started before she was cut off by Gibbs.

"Go help Abby go through evidence"

"Yes Boss" Kate sighed and trudged off towards Abby's lab.

As if she could read their minds Abby entered the squad room just before Kate had a chance to leave it.

"Where are you all going?" Abby asked with a huge smile on her face.

"We have a new suspect so we're going to check it out" Tony replied while he put on his jacket.

"Oh ok" Abby said a grabbed Kate by the arm and started skipping towards the elevator.

"Where do you two think you're going?" Gibbs said gruffly, there was no way in hell he was going to let either of them come.

"Kate and I are going to walk with you to the door" Abby explained and with that entered the elevator with Kate closely followed by the rest of the team.

* * *

"Thank god" Tony mumbled to himself as the team exited the elevator. It had been a very long ride for everyone, the elevator had been very cramped and hot from the amount of people and Abby had talked the whole way about bodily fluids she had in her lab.

"Alright let's go" Gibbs said and quickly walked over to the front doors. The team watched as Gibbs walked through the security detectors and out of the doors where he stood waiting for his team.

Kate quickly walked over to Tony and gave him a peck on the cheek before her and Abby stood beside the door waiting for them to leave.

Tony gave a quick wave before walking through the detectors causing them to go off. Tony quickly took of his belt and walked back through again only to have the detectors go off once again. Tony sighed and took of his shoes thinking it could be the steel caps in them. Tony once again walked through the detectors and once again they went off.

"What the hell is going on?" Tony exclaimed getting exasperated.

This frustration was made even worse when Gibbs came back into the building to see what was taking so long.

"DiNozzo what are you doing?" Gibbs asked trying to keep his voice as calm as possible.

"I'm trying to get out the doors boss," Tony replied "but they keep going off and I don't know why"

Gibbs shook his head and took a quick glance at Tony to see if he could see anything. When Gibbs got to the back he saw a small black security device sticking out of the bottom of Tony's jacket.

"DiNozzo take your jacket off" Gibbs said with a smile.

"Why on earth would that help?" Tony partially yelled getting really annoyed now.

"Just do it"

Tony shrugged his shoulder and took of his jacket. Gibbs smiled smugly as he watched Tony's facial expression change as he realised what had happened. Tony turned his jacket around staring gob smacked at the several black security devices sewn onto his jacket.

Before Tony could say a word he heard fits on laughter coming from near the door. Tony turned to see Abby clutching Kate for support as they both keeled over with laughter.

"Abby you did this?" Tony exclaimed pointing at his jacket for emphasis.

"Hey it wasn't my idea" Abby shrugged before continuing to laugh.

"Kate," Tony spluttered "how could you? You're meant to defend me"

"Sorry Tony I couldn't resist" Kate replied in between trying to catch her breath.

"DINOZZO" Gibbs yelled indicating that it was time to leave.

"This....is....war" Tony threatened emphasising each word before turning away and walking out the door.

Kate and Abby just smiled as they watched everyone leave and started to laugh again after McGee and Ziva gave them a thumbs up.

After everyone had left Abby turned to Kate and said "Kate that was brilliant"

"I know Kate shrugged before walking back towards the elevator closely followed by Abby.

* * *

"NCIS," Gibbs said bluntly as they entered the police station flashing his badge quickly "I need to speak with Constable Sullivan right now"

The young female at the front desk jumped at Gibb's sudden entrance and his demands.

"Umm he's not here sir," the young woman replied slightly stuttering.

"Where is he then?" Gibbs asked quite rudely obviously oblivious to the girl's distress.

"He called in sick this morning" the girl explained slowly regaining her composure.

"I'm going to need his address then"

"I'm sorry," the young woman sighed "I'm not allowed to give you that information, it's a privacy issue"

Gibbs let out an exasperated sigh and pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. He unfolded it quite roughly and slammed it down on the desk in front of the young woman.

"We'll get it ourselves then" Gibbs spat as the girl read the warrant Gibbs had just put in front of her.

Once the desk clerk was satisfied she got out of her chair and moved out of the way.

"McGee" Gibbs said a motioned for McGee to go over to the computer.

McGee nodded and was within seconds typing into the computer. Only mere minutes had passed before McGee grabbed something out of the printer and exclaimed "I got the address"

* * *

Lucky for the team the drive from the police station to Constable Sullivan's house had only been a short one. The short drive was filled with an eerie silence and you could have cut the tension with a knife, everybody knew that this could be the moment that they finally caught their killer.

Once everyone had gotten out of the car they approached the door to Sullivan's house with caution they were expecting to have to pull out another warrant but to their surprise the door was already ajar when the got there.

Simultaneously Tony, Ziva, McGee and Gibbs all drew their guns before opening the door.

_*Happy New Year to all our readers! Hope everyone had a great 08' and are preparing themselves for a better 09' _

_From Kate and Emma*  
_

_Love me_


	77. Chapter 77: People Pie

As the team from NCIS slowly entered the house, guns drawn, they looked around half expecting a body on the floor but when they didn't find one or any evidence of a struggle and foul play, they recalled their weapons and had a look around.

"Where the hell is Sullivan?" McGee stated asking the obvious question.

"You don't think that Hollands grabbed him before he could give him away?" Tony asked, casually searching through a pile of letters on the nearby coffee table.

"I told you Tony" Ziva semi-snapped "I don't think Hollands did it"

"Yeah and I don't think that Sullivan did it or the fact that what McGee is wearing is breaking numerous fashion laws but that doesn't make it right either" Tony rebutted.

"Actually..." McGee began, raising a finger to correct his co-worker.

"Shut up McDoogle," Tony replied before McGee had a chance to finish his sentence "just do your job"

"Which is at the moment?" McGee asked sarcastically and slightly annoyed. After almost 6 years of working with Tony, his insults were finally beginning to get on his nerve "there's no body, no struggle, and no evidence of anything bad happening at all. What would you like me to do?"

"Go play with traffic" Tony mumbled under his breath and walked into the kitchen where Gibbs had been avoiding another school yard fight. Presently, he had his hand in the trash, obviously looking for SOMETHING to suggest that Sullivan had not just become the fourth victim and not even paying the slightest bit of attention to Tony standing in the middle of the kitchen, looking stupid.

"I'll uh check over here boss" Tony suggested, sensing the fact that it was probably safer delegating himself to a task then disturbing Gibbs who had a handful of something not so pleasant.

Tony turned to face the rest of the kitchen. Sullivan lived a simple life, so if the house was burgled, nothing of great value would be taken. There were several white goods sitting on the bench, in desperate need of a cleaning. A sink piled to the top with dishes and a few unwelcome friends and a dish rag that had obviously missed its appointment with the washing machine...a few times.

Turning away from the mess, Tony was faced with a slightly cleaner corner. A wooden cabinet stood up against the wall, housing trophies, medals and photos of a small child in a wheelchair who Tony safely assumed was his dead son. In front of the cabinet was a surprisingly expensive looking, but probably a really good rip-off, table and the remains of what looked to be a really nice looking pie and vegetables.

Tony walked over to the meal and took a whiff. It was still warm and smelt really good so it gave them a good indication that Sullivan hadn't been gone long and might have in fact left and had every intention of coming back.

In the meantime, Tony couldn't let the perfectly good meal go to waste and after Abby and Kate's prank, Gibbs had refused him lunch. Well it was more of an early tea since he missed lunch too. So after a few quick glances over his shoulder, Tony wiped the fork off and took a generous helping of the pie and brought it close to his mouth.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you" Tony heard Gibbs's voice from behind. Slowly lowering the food, Tony turned around.

"But boss" he whined "I haven't eaten all day and I'm sure the guy's not going to notice a mouthful or two missing. This pie is huge!"

"Do you know what kind of pie that is DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked suspiciously, causing Tony great concern.

"I eat most pies boss" Tony explained with caution "I'm sure it's edible"

Gibbs brought a hand up and using his finger, slowly indicated for Tony to come to him. Placing the fork on the side of the plate gently so none of it fell off, Tony walked over to Gibbs.

The moment he reached Gibbs, Gibbs turned and opened the fridge door, quickly followed by the freezer door above it revealing the most horrifying sight Tony could imagine.

Human arms, legs and feet filled the shelves of the fridge. In any possible space in between them and filling the freezer were plastic bags labelled kidney, liver, brain and even stomach, intestines and genitals.

"Wanna guess what that pie's made of now DiNozzo?" Gibbs said, turning to a by now ghostly white Tony.

"No thanks boss. I think I'm right" Tony answered with a forced grin, trying to at least keep the little breakfast he had down.

"Sullivan's our serial killer" McGee stated, joining them in the room.

"And he's a cannibal" Ziva added.

Gibbs sighed and closed the doors. "I don't think he's coming home tonight" he said as casual as one would in a situation like this.

"But Sullivan!" McGee said, in shock "there was nothing in his file that even suggested he could be the killer. He was a model cop and he had a disabled son"

"Just because you have a disabled child McGee doesn't mean you can't be a killer" Ziva corrected him.

"So what now boss?" Tony said, finally feeling up to saying something.

"Bag, tag and gag," Gibbs instructed "Ducky is tied up in autopsy and we're not wasting any time. And once you've finished that, turn this house upside down. I want this bastard caught before he strikes again"

"But if he's on the run, why would he strike again?" McGee asked, still trying to process everything.

"Have you ever considered that maybe he just stepped out for a snack McGee" Gibbs snapped and stormed away and down the nearby hallway, most likely looking for the bedroom.

"This is one sick dude" Tony said, grabbing evidence bags from the kit.

"McGee are you ok?" Ziva asked concerningly at a completely pale McGee.

"I...uh...umm..." was all McGee could manage to say. He had clearly just processed the recent events and they were not sitting right with him.

"McGee" Tony said, turning to face him "I have a special job for you"

McGee's stomach fell through the floor. Just like always, Tony gave him the disgusting jobs that he never wanted to do. Why pass up this moment?

"Go outside and check the backyard. See if you can find a shed or something that he'd keep his instruments in which he so skilfully used to dismember our friends here" Tony instructed.

"Yes Tony" McGee said automatically and jumped at the chance to leave the room.

Ziva smiled at Tony. A lot of the time he could be a jerk but there was the rare occurrence that he could really be a nice person. She liked that.

"That was really nice Tony" she said, moving over to him.  
"Yeah well we didn't need McGee barfing all over the place," Tony said "it's already disgusting as it is"

As Tony and Ziva made their way over to the fridge with the evidence bags, they stopped to consider the job at hand.

"So," Tony sighed, turning to Ziva with a depressed look on his face "which of these do you think belongs to Mann?"

* * *

"We could use super glue?"Abby suggested to a bored Kate. For the last couple of hours, the two girls had been planning revenge for whatever Tony would come up with next.

"That's boring and been done before" Kate exclaimed with a sigh.

"How and who?" Abby asked.

"Tony super glued McGee's fingers to his keyboard almost last year" Kate said.

"How do you know that?" Abby asked suspiously with a smile "you were dead"

"There have to be some advantages to sleeping with a co-worker" Kate smiled.

"Apart from the fact that Tony is absolutely gorgeous" Abby laughed.

"Hey!" cried Kate with a smile.

"Well we have to think of something!" Abby pointed out "after the security device joke, Tony would be seeking some serious revenge"

"But shouldn't I be siding with him?" Kate asked.

"But we're bestest buddies" Abby whined in her defence.

"Yeah but I'm not _marrying_ you and having your child now am I" Kate pointed out. Obviously a mistake since this got Abby thinking.

"But wouldn't that be weird, like freaky weird if you _were_ marrying me and having my child," she began "I mean you, giving birth to my child, something that's biologically mine but not yours....or it could be yours....ours...that's just weird and freaky"

"It's also called surrogacy...well the sane part of that is" Kate said rolling her eyes.

"Slightly less interesting" Abby stated with a sigh. That conversation could have got interesting.

Kate rolled her eyes again just as the elevator door opened and Tony, McGee, Ziva and Gibbs all walked through the open doors.

"Hey Tony!" Abby cried with a huge grin, "how's the jacket?"

Her happy expression suddenly disappeared when she saw the grim expressions the three of them wore. Gibbs, like always, seemed neutral as he disappeared up stairs. Kate too, saw their faces.

"Oh my God, what happened?" she asked out of great concern, directed mainly towards Tony but instead of Tony answering her question, he dropped his bags where he stood and pulled her close, wrapping his arms tightly around her.

Kate, sensing that something terrible had happened, didn't resist and returned Tony's embrace, hoping that Abby would ask the remaining two what horrible event had just occurred.

"We found our killer" Ziva explained, breaking the silence.

"And?" Abby said, seeming generally interested.

"It was Sullivan" McGee answered bluntly.

Remaining in Tony's arms, Kate pivoted herself so her head was still resting on Tony's chest but she was able to face everyone else. "Sullivan? The Probationary Constable? How could it be him?"

"No idea," McGee said, dropping his bag on his desk "but we found all the evidence we needed to prove it"

"Like?" Abby asked.

"Body parts, body organs, recipes. You name it, he had it" Ziva explained, remaining where she was.

Kate, and Abby for that matter, were shocked. "He eats them!" Kate gasps. At this statement, Tony's arms tightened around her, as if he was protecting her from the evil of the world.

"But it kinda makes sense now" McGee said, slowly lowering himself into his chair.

"McGee, this psycho EATS people! What part of this makes sense?" Ziva cried.

"What he does," McGee explained "we wondered why he killed and removed organs. Well know we know"

"I think I preferred it when we didn't know" Tony said in almost a whisper but loud enough so everyone heard him.

"But why the chunk missing from the leg?" Kate asked.

"I think I can answer that" came Ducky's familiar voice from behind. Everyone turned to face the doctor, who had 3 files in his hand. "All three victims had the same blood type, A+," he explained "he's what you'd called a modern day vampire. The missing muscle from the legs was his way of 'taste testing' for a lack of a better term"

"But how did he know what type they were?" McGee asked, obviously a good question to ask.

"Oh my god" Kate suddenly gasped to herself, causing Tony to jump backwards, keeping his hands on her shoulders.

"What's wrong Kate?" he asked, his heart practically jumping out of his throat.

"I remember where I recognise him from" she said, her voice low with fear.

"Where Kate? Tell me?" Tony begged, breathlessly.

"Remember that night when you were too tired to drive home?" Kate began.

"Yeah it was the day we found out the sex of the baby. How could I forget?" Tony agreed "what about it?"

Kate took a breath "we were pulled over by a cop explaining of a burglary down the road"

"Yeah" Tony agreed again, not liking where this was heading.

"Don't you remember who pulled us over?" Kate asked, looking up at Tony, straight into his eyes.

And suddenly it hit him. Sullivan had pulled them over that night and asked for their licence. Kate was the one driving so he had read the blood type of her licence. Since she was O-, he had let her go. Had it have been him....the thought of how close they were made him sick to his stomach.

"What happened Tony?" Ziva asked, almost screaming. Even after all she had seen and done in her life, this was actually frightening her.

"Sullivan pulled us over one night" Tony explained and continued to explain that a change of circumstances would have cost them both their lives.

"That bastard" Gibbs yelled from above. Everyone looked up to see Gibbs rushing down the stairs and to Kate and Tony.

"Did he hurt you?" he asked, more demanding to know than asking anyway.

"No Gibbs," Kate said, shaking her head "I was the wrong blood type. We're fine"

"Wrong blood type?" Gibbs repeated obviously having missed the earlier conversation.

"I'm A+ boss" Tony said "Sullivan only...eats...people with A+ blood. He pulls them over and asks for their licence"

"I'm going to kill him" Gibbs declared and stormed off towards the elevator.

"But Gibbs?" Ziva yelled after him "we don't even know where to look to find him"

But obviously Gibbs didn't give a damn and was quite prepared to search all of the United States to find him.

"Tony, how about you take Kate home?" Ducky suggested after Ziva had run off to join Gibbs in the search and McGee had made himself comfortable for a long nights worth of searching on his computer.

"But I want to help Ducky" Tony argued.

"But you're going to be no use to anyone unless you let Caitlin go" Ducky pointed out.

Tony looked down and had only then realised that he still hadn't let Kate go out of his strong grip.

"Take her home and protect her," Ducky continued "with a little one on the way, she needs her rest and hanging around here like a bad smell isn't going to help anyone"

And for the first time, Tony didn't argue. "Yes Ducky" he agreed and let go of Kate long enough so that he could grab their coats and anything else they might need and led her towards the elevator, grabbing his keys from out of his pocket. The moment Kate saw them, she snatched them off him.

"I'm driving" she said.

* * *

***Unfortunately we have to warn you that this story is slowly coming to and end.....not yet but it's reached the part where we've planned the rest of the story so you don't have too much time to let us know what you think of it....so review away and happy reading***


	78. Chapter 78: The calm before the storm

It had taken Tony and Kate almost twice the amount of time to get home. Kate had insisted on taking the long way and she had also made sure that she had found the most high traffics areas to drive through. Tony knew she was trying to avoid any time when they could be pulled over by their killer but it had frustrated him.

Tony was now sitting on the lounge with his arm around Kate, she had just ruined yet another of his favourite movies with her pointless questions but he didn't care the fact that they were together was enough for him. Tony was glad that they know knew who their killer was and he was happy that he and Kate could now concentrate on their wedding and that their daughter could grow up without this guy in her life.

"Hey what you thinking about?" Kate asked wriggling out from under Tony's arm and turning to face him.

"Nothing really," Tony replied "just stuff mainly"

"Like?" Kate said trying to get more information out of Tony.

"Well," Tony explained "we haven't really planned anything for the wedding at all"

"Are you kidding?" Kate exclaimed "the size I am at the moment I'm not fitting into a wedding dress anytime soon"

"Speaking of which," Tony interrupted "we haven't really planned for the baby yet either"

A huge smile came across Kate's face before she got to her feet, with a fair bit of difficulty due to the size of her stomach.

"You mean you haven't" Kate said cheekily holding out her hand for Tony.

"What do you mean?" Tony asked not sure where Kate was going with this.

"Just come with me" Kate semi demanded and continued to hold out her hand.

Tony took Kate's hands and followed her down the hall of their house to a room which Kate had been saying was a surprise for Tony for the last month so he had never been in there.

"Ooohh is it time for my surprise?" Tony exclaimed with a little too much excitement for this time of night.

"Yep" Kate replied casually and opened the door in one fluid movement revealing a complete nursery on the other side.

Tony gasped in awe at the room; all the walls were painted a pale pink with a feature wall covered in beautiful fairies and butterflies. As Tony looked more around the room he could see that every piece of furniture that should be there was including a gorgeous maple wood cot, a change table and countless numbers of toys.

"Do you like it?" Kate asked taking in Tony's expression.

"It's fantastic," Tony replied still in shock "but how did you get time to do this?"

"When you were working McGee, Abby, Ziva well pretty much everyone came around to help," Kate explained "Abby even left a gift for the baby"

Tony looked to where Kate was now pointing and noticed a weird looking skull; well he thought it looked like a skull, sitting in the table.

"We're going to cover that up when the baby arrives right?" Tony asked not wanting his child to have nightmares.

Kate nodded quickly obviously thinking the same thing.

"So you really like it?" Kate asked with a smile.

"Yeah but," Tony replied with an even bigger smile "this baby better be a girl it'll cost a fortune to repaint this all blue"

Kate punched Tony lightly before Tony pulled her into him and kissed her like he had never kissed her before, Kate would have melted onto the floor if Tony hadn't of pulled away. Kate gave Tony a small loving glance before making her way back into the lounge and into the kitchen.

When Tony realised what Kate was doing he quickly rushed down the hall and sat at the dining room table responding to his now grumbling stomach.

"Kate what's for dinner?" Tony asked hopefully.

"People pie" Kate responded without even thinking she regretted it immediately as soon as she saw how white Tony turned.

"I mean steak and kidney pie" Kate corrected trying to make Tony feel better.

"Kidney" Tony whimpered turning even whiter.

"Umm shepherd's pie" Kate said cautiously.

"Shepherds" Tony whimpered turning even whiter if that was possible.

Kate thought for a moment before suggesting "Vegetarian pie"

When Kate saw that Tony was about to protest she quickly put away all her previous ingredients and got out new ones.

"Ok we'll have tacos" Kate said quickly preparing everything she'd need.

"What's on the tacos?" Tony asked cautiously not thinking he could handle any meat at the moment.

"Umm salad," Kate replied putting away the mince she had just gotten out of the freezer "lots of salad"

Tony nodded a smiled seeming perfectly happy with that before he got up and started to get the plates and cutlery out to set the table.

Kate just smiled and knew that she and Tony would be going vegetarian for a while.

"So" Tony said breaking the silence, and continuing to set the table "what are we going to call her?"

"Her who?" Kate said automatically. She was half way into a decision as whether or not to have capsicum. Every time she chopped it and placed it on the plate it curled back up and had the tendency to resemble a human ear.

"The guinea pig" Tony laughed "who do you think I'm talking about?"

"Oh sorry" Kate apologised and discarded the capsicum "I hadn't really given it much thought"

Tony put down the cutlery on the table and walked over to Kate in the kitchen "You had time to complete the baby room AND get together everything we could possibly need but you've never thought about a _name_?"

"Well I know what I like" Kate shrugged "so it doesn't take too much thought to think of something"

"Yeah but we're not having a dozen babies to make sure you get all your favourite names" Tony said sarcastically, and led Kate to the couch, leaving the remains of the unfinished dinner on the bench "so hit me with a few"

"Ok" Kate agreed and leaned back in the couch for comfort "I've always loved Teresa"

"Are you kidding" Tony said in a kind of a laugh "no kid of mine is being called Teresa"

"And what's wrong with Teresa?" Kate asked, turning to Tony and giving him one of _those_ looks.

"It's so old and Saintly" Tony complained "don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with Sainty but Teresa for a little baby..."

"She'll grow up you know" Kate pointed out.

Tony just shook his head, clearly putting his foot down on that one.

"Ok you're turn" Kate said, folding her arms and grinning. This was not a fight she was going to lose easily.

"Well I was thinking something simple like Emily or Ashley. Not necessarily those names...in fact I rather don't like the name Ashley...but something where it's not too hard to pronounce but it's not random and having people think what the hell like a name such as Harper or Willow" Tony explained.

"You still haven't said what you like" Kate smiled, pointing out the obvious.

"Oh right" Tony said, realising that he had made a speech out of a simple one answer question but then he paused.

"What's wrong?" Kate asked, not exactly concerned but curious.

"You'll probably laugh at me" Tony said, his eyes changing from hers to the floor.

"Why on earth would I do that?" Kate asked, placing a hand on his shoulder "I _want_ to hear it, whatever it is"

"Well, this might seem silly but I've always wanted to get married and have kids" Tony began.

"Could have fooled me sometimes" Kate laughed.

"See I told you it's silly" Tony said rather quickly and stood up from the couch.

"No Tony" Kate apologised quickly and pulled him gently down again "I didn't mean to say that. I only meant it as a joke. I promise I'll shut my mouth"

Tony sighed, turned to Kate and placed her hands gently in his "if we were having a boy, I wouldn't know where to start on names. I have so many favourites and people I want to name him after; he'd have a name as long as the Nile River. But there's only been one name for a girl that's stuck with me and I have no idea why"

"Tony spit it out" Kate said, eager to hear what kind of name had stuck with him for so long.

"Isabella" Tony said simply "I don't know why but I've always imagined me holding my baby Isabella" Tony let go of Kate's hands and started fiddling with his fingers "sounds silly doesn't it?"

"Why on earth would that sound silly?" Kate asked, generally confused.

"Well a name like Isabella isn't the first thing you'd think I'd like" Tony explained "just the other day Hugh from down the hall reckoned I'd call it something like Tina or Summer or something else that would suit my personality. He laughed when I told him what I really liked"

"I'm sure he was just kidding Tony" Kate said sympathetically "for what it's worth I love the name Isabella. It means _Devoted to _God you know"

"It does?" Tony said surprised "I mean I've always liked the name I've just never bothered to find out what it meant"

"Well I like it" Kate agreed "it's a beautiful Italian name with a meaning that shows my love for God. How can we get any better than that?"

"Guess we can't" Tony agreed and leant in to kiss his beautiful fiancé but quickly pulled back.

"What's wrong?" Kate asked, not sure whether or not to take offence.

"Can you promise me one thing?" Tony asked, seriously.

"Umm ok" Kate said, beginning to get rather nervous at Tony's sudden seriousness.

"She is NEVER going to be called Izzy ok" Tony stated "I like Bella or Isabelle or even Ella at a stretch but no Izzy"

"Deal" Kate agreed and they leant in for a kiss to seal the deal.

* * *

_Hi Guys_

_Once again we are so sorry it has taken so long to update we are suffering from a bit of writers block, we know where we want to go with our fanfic it's just the putting it into words that is causing us problems. We will try to update faster. Also just to let you know that even though our story is very close to its end we still have one major thing up our sleeves and it will be happening sometime in the next couple of chapters._

_Just a quick note about the name Isabella we looked it up and there's like 6 different meanings for it, they all deal with God in some way and all mention him but the wording is different but we looked for a bit and a site explained this and said that names with different origins can have different meanings and Isabella is both Italian, Spanish and Hebrew and the meaning we wrote is the Italian one, just thought we'd say something in case there was any confusion._

_Ok well that's all from us for now thank you so much for sticking with our story and being so patient we know how frustrating it can be to have to wait ages for a story update so we will try our very hardest to get chapters to you faster._

_Happy Reading_

_Kate and Emma_

_P.S If anyone would like to get in contact with us or contact us through msn you can send us an email at __.com__ this is our joint email account so chances are that you will get a hold of one of us. Also any ideas for a sequel (if we write one) would be greatly appreciated. Cya _


	79. Chapter 79: Killer Strikes NCIS!

As Tony and Kate continued to kiss on the couch they were soon in their own little world only to be interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Who the hell is here at this hour?" Tony asked no one in particular, breaking away from Kate. Kate looked over to the clock on top of the TV cabinet which read 10:49pm as Tony slowly made his way towards the door.

"Who is it?" Tony asked, being cautious.

"Santa clause" came a voice from behind the wooden door.

"Michael" Kate and Tony said in unison and Tony opened the door to see his soon to be brother-in-law standing there.

"Michael what are you doing here?" Kate asked from the couch "you never randomly just show up"

"Which obviously means he's here for a reason" Tony said, stating the obvious and a little annoyed that Michael had interrupted his evening with Kate.

"I'm here because I found out about that psycho pulling you guys over and because I'm playing peace keeper between you and mum" Michael explained.

"How did you find out about that?" Tony asked suspiciously, considering no one outside of their team knew about that.

"And why are you playing peace keeper?" Kate added "I haven't spoken to mum in months. Why now?"

"Look mum's worried about you" Michael said, sounding somewhat serious "there's an insane psycho on the loose eating people. She wants to know where we ALL are"

"I'm the wrong blood type" Kate pointed out "whoever your source is should know that. What's the real reason?"

At this point, Kate had risen up from the couch and was now standing next to Tony, both with folded arms and making Michael nervous.

"Ok mum told Sasha, who told Brandon, who told Logan, who told me that she feels bad and wants to be a part of her grandchild's life" Michael explained, counting on his fingers so he didn't miss anyone.

"Dad didn't say anything?" Kate asked, her eyes narrowing. A clear indication that she wasn't impressed.

"He was asleep" Michael shrugged "look, she feels bad about what she did to you"

"Not him?" Kate asked, flicking her head towards Tony in indication.

"No she still doesn't like him" Michael answered bluntly "but your her daughter and the only one giving her a grandchild at the moment so I think she's willing to make an exception"

"Oh how lovely after everything she did to me" Kate spat, a clear indication that this conversation probably wasn't going to end well "she disowns me because I'm marrying a guy she doesn't like and having a child before I'm married! A mother doesn't do that to her daughter!"

"But mum's a strict Catholic. You know how she is" Michael tried to explain, but Kate kept going, letting him in on a secret that even HE didn't know about.

"Really, it's not like I haven't done anything she didn't do" Kate practically yelled.

"What on earth are you talking about Kate?" Michael asked in utter confusion.

"Our grandparents never liked dad" Kate explained, remaining in a serious and pissed of tone "but mum married him anyway. She was even pregnant with you before she did"

Even Tony was shocked by this news.

"How did you find that out?" Michael asked, completely shocked that he didn't know about it.

"I worked for the President of the United States" Kate stated, hands on the little hip she could find next to her bludging belly "there are many things I found out after the conversation that led to me getting kicked out of this family. How dare she exile me for something she did too. She has no right to treat me like dirt and then expect to make herself feel better by saying sorry to me after I heard it from you"

"Who heard it from Logan, who heard it from Brandon, who heard it from Sasha because your dad was asleep" Tony added, trying to lighten the terribly sour moment.

"Shut up Tony" Kate snapped causing Tony to hold his hands up in defeat.

"Yes Kate" he agreed and Kate turned back to Michael.

"Come on Kate" Michael pleaded "I really do think you should forgive mum and we can put this whole thing behind us"

"Has grandmother forgiven mum?" Kate asked, although the answer was an easy guess.

"Well since I didn't know about the situation in the first place, I'd say no because I've never heard from her" Michael sighed.

"Well there's your answer" Kate simply said and walked away into the bedroom, leaving Tony and Michael standing in the lounge room.

"I'll have a talk to her" Tony sighed and followed Kate down the hallway and into their room.

"Kate..." Tony said, knocking on the edge of the door.

"What?" Kate mumbled, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Can I come in?" Tony asked, cautiously.

"It's your room too" Kate pointed out. Tony nodded and walked in, taking a seat next to Kate on the bed and gently taking her hand in his.

"I really do think you should make up with your mother" Tony said calmly.

"Why, you didn't make up with your dad and he was just a bastard" Kate said, staring at the floor rather than Tony's face, knowing if she did, she would fold.

"And you see where that ended up" Tony said, gently turning Kate's face to face his "I never made up with him because I never got the chance. If I had just stopped being a stubborn jerk and swallowed my pride, I could have had years with him instead never getting the chance to tell him that I loved him or even goodbye"

Kate tired to avoid Tony's sad eyes but she knew that he was right. Even though what her mother did to her made her so angry and betrayed, she still loved her and knew that when she did eventually have children, she wanted them to have all their family. Kate pulled Tony into a hug and they sat there on the end of the bed for what seemed like an eternity before Tony broke the silence.

"So does this mean your going to bury the hatchet with your mother?" Tony asked hesitantly not wanting to make Kate mad again.

"It means I'll try" Kate agreed not knowing if she could completely forgive her mother just yet.

"Good," Tony replied before quickly realising something "we should go tell Michael he's still standing out there"

Kate nodded and allowed Tony to take her hand and lead her out of the bedroom and back into their living room.

"Well?" Michael said expectantly as Tony and Kate came back into the living room.

"Tell mom I'll talk to her," Kate sighed "but that's it she can't get her hopes up what she did to me was horrible"

Michael nodded and sank back down into one of the dining room chairs.

"What's wrong?" Kate asked worried about her brother

"Nothing I'm just relieved," Michael explained "I really didn't want to have to go back to mom with bad news"

Kate just nodded and the room was filled with an eerie silence. Kate thought Tony was going to say something a couple of times but then she realised he was just breathing deeply and like her waiting for somebody to say something.

"Tony," Kate said breaking the silence "I want jerky"

"Huh" Tony replied turning to face Kate.

"I…want…..jerky" Kate repeated more slowly so Tony could hear every word.

"There's some in the cupboard I think" Tony said quickly thinking that was the end of the conversation.

"I don't want that jerky" Kate said getting annoyed that Tony wasn't understanding what she wanted.

"Well I think there's a different flavour up the back" Tony sighed wondering where Kate was going with this.

"I want the jerky from the service station on the main road on the way home" Kate said matter of factly.

"Kate," Tony whined "that's like half an hour away"

"I want that jerky" Kate spat her craving getting worse.

"Fine," Tony said defeated "what type do you want?"

"Umm let's see" Kate pondering tapping her fingers on her cheek "surprise me"

Tony nodded and was about to grab his keys when Kate added "but I don't want salted beef, chicken, lamb or salted lamb"

"Kate that only leaves normal beef jerky" Tony said wondering why she didn't just say that in the first place.

"Oh well I'll have that one then," Kate said happily "with extra salt on the side"

Tony was about to protest but instead just shook his head and grabbed his jacket, keys and wallet off the kitchen table. Tony looked up to see that Michael was standing and also grabbing his stuff.

"You leaving?" Tony asked slowly heading for the door.

"Nah I was thinking I might come with if it's ok" Michael replied also making his way to the door.

"Fine with me" Tony said and got half way to the door before Kate stopped him.

"Oh I also want chocolate sauce and pepper for my jerky" Kate added and went and sat on the lounge indicating that she was now finished.

"I'm going to need you to help me remember all this and carry it out of the shop" Tony murmured to Michael.

Michael smirked and held back a laugh as he and Tony walked the rest of the way to the door and left to get Kate's jerky.

* * *

It had only taken Tony and Michael about 20 mins to get the service station, Tony had wanted to get there quickly so he was driving faster than usual and there was no traffic on the road. Michael and Tony were now walking through the service station and picking up the things that Kate wanted.

"She's not actually going to eat the pepper and chocolate sauce with the jerky is she? Michael asked with a disgusted look on his face.

"Most likely" Tony replied grabbing a small packet of salt off one of the shelves.

Michael pulled another face before looking around and noticing there was only 2 other people in the store. One was a young woman who was just paying for her items and the other was a middle aged guy wearing a black hoodie who was just looking around the service station and was yet to pick anything to buy.

"Ok well I think that's everything" Tony said checking the items in his hand "we can probably go now".

Michael nodded and walked o the register with Tony noticing that the hooded guy had finally picked a packet of potato chips and was following them over to the checkout.

"Hi" the man behind the desk said with a smile as Tony placed his items on the bench, taking notice of what Tony had he added "interesting combination"

"Yes well the missus has some strange craving at the moment" Tony replied jokingly.

"Ah I see," the operator answered "how far along is she?"

"About 7 months," Tony explained "been through this before have you?"

"Yep 3 kids now," the operator said holding up 3 fingers "all different cravings the first was ice cream with peanut butter, second was mashed potato with skittles and the third was milk with mm's poured over toast"

Tony pretended to throw up before replying "I got off easy then"

"Oh yeah," the operator sighed and put the last of Tony's items through "that's fifteen dollars and eighty three cents"

Tony pulled out his credit card and handed it over; the operator checked the back quickly and noticed that Tony's signature had rubbed off.

"Hey I hate to ask but do you have ID there at all," the operator asked "your signature has rubbed off and I need it for verification"

"Yeah sure," Tony replied pulling out his ID and handing it over "I completely understand"

"Hey another A+," the operator exclaimed noticing Tony's blood type "haven't met one in a while"

Tony was about to reply when Michael tapped him on the shoulder "I might go and wait in the car" he said not wanting to be a third wheel in the conversation.

"Sure" Tony replied and handed over his car keys as he turned to face Michael he noticed that the hooded guy had just left his stuff and left the service station.

"Some people are so impatient" Tony scoffed turning back to the operator.

Tony and the checkout operator continued their conversation for another 10 minutes or so before they finally said their goodbyes and Tony left the station.

Tony couldn't stop grinning to himself as he walked towards his car his life was great, Kate was pregnant and agreed to married him and hopefully if all went well with her mother he would gain a new family, that and he had just made a new friend. Tony had just realised that he didn't even know the guys name when he noticed something at his car that made his smile fade quickly and his stomach drop.

In his car Michael was slumped in his chair completely motionless. Tony dropped everything in his hands and rushed over to his car. Just as Tony got to his car door and opened it he felt a sharp pain on the back of his head as if something had just hit him. Tony fell to the ground suddenly and felt another sharp pain from hitting his head on his car door and that was the last thing he felt before he fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

*** Sorry this chapter took soooo long (we're too scared to see exactly how long) we went on holidays for 4 weeks down south (had a blast) but we were computer-less for that time....then once we got back, we were straight into work and have had NO time to write anything so we stayed up late tonight to get this one written for you and made it longer than usual as a thank you for staying with us. we promise that now its getting into the last major climax of the story that we wont take too long to write the rest because we know it would be cruel lol... thanks to all the readers who are still with us we are so sorry for the hold up and we will try our very best to get the rest of the chapters to you fast . we look foward to reading your reviews and if you feel we're taking too long...feel free to email us and let us know lol sometimes you need a little kick to get going.**

**Happy Reading!**

**Kate and Emma*  
**


	80. Chapter 80: He's Baaaaaaaaack!

Kate sat on the couch watching the clock tick by. Her craving for jerky had passed by now and she had successfully filled its place with pickles and ice cream. But as the clock hands passed 12:30am, Kate was starting to get worried. Tony had left almost 2 hours ago and even though the petrol station was a good half hour away, once you calculate the return trip, it certainly wouldn't take Tony an hour to purchase her bizzare combination. So the second the clock hit 1:00, Kate grabbed the phone and called a very familiar number.

"Gibbs" Kate said with panic in her voice "I think something's happened to Tony"

"What are you talking about?" came Gibbs's voice on the other end of the line, in a tone that clearly indicated that he had probably been asleep.

"Tony went out to the servo a while ago to get me a few things" Kate explained "but he hasn't come back and I'm getting worried now"

"Kate, you know DiNozzo. He probably took one of his 'short cuts' and ended up somewhere near Washington" Gibbs replied, rubbing his eyes and trying to keep himself awake.

"No boss this is different" Kate cried, clearly distressed now "that was almost 2 and a half hours ago and he'd never do this. Not unless...." and she let her voice trail off, not wanting to even think of Tony being involved in a car accident or anything of similar nature.

"Ok calm down" Gibbs instructed, the tone of his voice changing slightly "I'll come over and we'll have a good look around. You are probably worrying yourself for nothing and he'll show up before I do"

"I hope you're right Gibbs" Kate said, calming down slightly at the thought of knowing Gibbs was on his way "if anything happens to him...."

"Nothing is going to happen to him" Gibbs told her and hung up his phone. There were times that his famous gut would tell him something good was about to happen but there were also the times when he just knew that something was terribly wrong and his gut was screaming at him to get to Kate and find Tony and as he jumped into his car, he prayed that nothing had happened to Tony and this was all a complete over reaction on their part.

* * *

As Kate and Gibbs came around the bend, the service station came quickly into view. What also came into view was the all too familiar flashing red and blue lights blocking off the entrance to the servo and causing Gibbs to park illegally on the sidewalk.

After ordering Kate to stay in the car, Gibbs slowly made his way over to where the most amount of people seemed to have gathered. This he assumed was either where most of the action had occurred or someone in charge was there. Either way, he was getting some answers.

As Gibbs pushed his way through the crowd of people, he recognised Fornell giving orders to two rookies about properly taping off the area of a crime scene. This did not sit well with Gibbs.

"Tobias, what the hell has happened here?" Gibbs demanded, steadily walking towards Fornell.

"Gee you guys get here faster every time" Fornell said, surprised to see Gibbs there so soon "I just put the word into NCIS only minutes ago"

"Cut the crap Fornell" Gibbs demanded "why did you call us? What the hell is happening here?"

"Recognise the car Gibbs?" Fornell said simply, pointing in the direction of Tony's car.

"Yeah that's DiNozzo's, so what?" Gibbs said, his voice still raised.

"Some passersby found Michael Todd slumped over the seat in DiNozzo's car and we can't seem to find DiNozzo anywhere" Fornell explained, reading Michael's name off his note pad like any other victim.

"Michael!" Gibbs explained "is he alright? Where's Tony?"

"I just told you we're having trouble locating DiNozzo" Fornell repeated with a raised tone, the kind of one you'd expect from someone who isn't listening "but Mr. Todd is fine. Apart from a nasty bump on the head which probably needs a few stitches, he seems to be alright. He's sitting in the back of the ambulance over there. Maybe you can help with that" he added with a flick of the head.

"Help with what?" Gibbs asked his tone now clearly his usual 'what the hell is going on here' tone.

"Mr. Todd seems to be having a lack of memory problem right now" Fornell explained "now that is most likely caused by the un-invited clobber he seems to have sustained but we're going around in circles and nothing he's saying is making any sense"

Fornell waited for Gibbs to respond but by the time he had finished explaining the situation, Gibbs was already half way towards the ambulance where Michael was sitting, a bloody cloth to the back of his head.

"Michael, what the hell happened? Are you alright?" Gibbs asked, rather fast.

"I don't know what happened Gibbs" Michael explained, lowering the blood soaked cloth and still quite shaken and drowsy from the experience "Tony and I were getting something for Kate....i can't remember what it was....and uh....i decided to go back to the car because Tony was talking about skittles and mashed potato with some guy....."

"Skittles and what?" Gibbs repeated but stopped himself from going anywhere further because Michael had more to say.

"..... and I got to the car," Michael continued, continuously looking all over the place "but....my keys wouldn't open the door...and then I realised that it was Tony's car...i must have forgot...and then I went to the passenger's side and got in....because the car was unlocked....i guess we didn't think we were staying long.....and then I remember sitting there....and then something hard hit me.....," and as Michael said this he subconsciously felt the back of his head where he'd been hit ".......and the next thing I know, this old guy was shaking me and asking if I was alright....i never saw the guy Gibbs....i swear" and at this point, his voice was getting quicker and Michael was clearly heading into a anxiety attack.

Gibbs placed a comforting hand on Michael's shoulder to tell him to calm down when he heard the familiar screeches of the NCIS car with Ziva's driving.

Gibbs turned and watched McGee and Ziva jump out of the car but it was only Ziva who raced up to the ambulance and threw her arms around Michael, a gesture that took both McGee and Gibbs by surprise.

"Well I guess Tony was wrong about Ziva and Palmer" McGee said in a whisper to Gibbs "who knew she was really sleeping with Kate's brother"

"Shit Kate" Gibbs said quickly enough that McGee didn't even have time to expect an answer "she's still in the car! What the hell am I going to tell her? That her brother was bashed and Tony's missing?"

"Look boss calm down" McGee said, the situation of him calming Gibbs down feeling slightly odd and unusual "I'll go to Kate and you can go to Fornell and see what he's found out so far"

Gibbs nodded and walked over towards Fornell and leaving Ziva and Michael, the idea of McGee taking charge not even crossing his mind.

Before McGee even reached the car, Kate had already gotten out and was heading towards him.

"McGee, someone better tell me what the hell is going on or I swear I'll..." she started but McGee cut her off.

"Tony's missing" he said bluntly, getting straight to the point because a heavily pregnant and hormonal woman freaking out kind of scared him.

"WHAT!" Kate cried "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?"

"We can't find Tony at the moment and Michael's with the ambos' now....he's ok but" McGee began but to no effect.

"WHAT MICHAEL'S HURT!" Kate screamed, completely forgetting Michael went with Tony and ran as well as a pregnant woman who was 7 months along could towards the back of the ambulance where Michael sat, arms wrapped Ziva, clearly not noticing his sister who was about to have a heart attack.

"Oh my god Michael are you ok?" Kate exclaimed coming to an abrupt stop in front of Michael completely puffed even though it was only a short run.

"Yeah I'm fine" Michael replied hoarsely, he was still a little shaken up by the experience.

"Good," Kate said before going into full on attack mode "what the hell happened? Why is Tony's missing?"

"I...I don't know," Michael stammered clearly surprised by his sister's change of mood "One minute I was sitting in Tony's car the next I woke up and he was gone"

"Why did you leave him alone?" Kate shot back bordering on hysterics.

"He was in the gas station talking to the service guy," Michael replied getting defensive "I was just going to wait in the car for him"

"Kate that's enough," Ziva snapped jumping to Michael's defence "it's not Michael's fault"

"And this is none of your business" Kate replied practically spitting the words at Ziva.

"Tony is important to me too Kate," Ziva said calmly knowing that Kate was only acting this way out of worry for Tony "he's my partner and I want him back just as much as you do"

Kate glared at Ziva for a moment before she said very slowly "Yeah I forgot you were in love him Ziva"

"That's in the past Kate," Ziva answered calmly keeping her composure "Tony is just a friend and partner to me now"

"You keep telling yourself that Ziva," Kate snapped "I know you're only using Michael to make Tony jealous and to get under my nose"

"Kate stop it you're crossing the line" Michael said definitely not shaky anymore.

"Oh you honestly can't be as stupid to believe that Ziva's with you because she loves you Michael" Kate exclaimed "she was still in love with Tony when you two started dating you're obviously been used"

"That's so not true" Ziva practically shouted back, her body positioned away from Michael and looking squarely at Kate "I'm not the kind of shallow person who'd do a thing like that"

Before Kate had a chance to reply she was interrupted by McGee and Gibbs coming over with grim looks on their faces.

"Anything?" Kate asked anxiously quickly turning her attention away from Ziva and Michael.

"No nothing," McGee replied apologetically "all we have is the evidence the FBI collected at the scene and the security footage which we can't see until we get back to NCIS"

"The FBI just handed this all over?" Kate replied with surprise knowing how much the FBI hated to hand over their cases.

"Yeah well it's our agent so our jurisdiction," Gibbs explained "let's head back to NCIS there's nothing more we can do here I just finished interviewing the checkout operator and he didn't see anything so we've done all we can do here"

"How could he not see anything?" Kate asked not quite ready to leave yet.

"Apparently he wasn't on duty when it happened," Gibbs replied "he came in to relieve the other operator at 12:30 and he wasn't there the FBI was already here when he arrived"

Kate nodded and allowed Gibb's to lead her back towards his car closely followed by McGee. Kate was so close to a break down but she didn't want to do it in front of Gibbs, all she knew was that she hoped that Tony was ok and that her worst fear wouldn't be realised.

* * *

Tony could feel himself laying on something cold and the smell alone alerted him to the fact that there was no windows nearby or even an open door. Tony had come to a few minutes ago and was working on trying to open his eyes which was difficult due to the fact that they felt like lead. Tony could feel his entire head throbbing and tried to lift his hand to assess the damage only to find that his entire body also felt like lead and it was a huge effort just to get one finger to move let alone his whole arm.

Tony finally managed to get his eyes open and took in as much of his surroundings as possible without moving his head. He was in a small room with blood stains covering the walls and ceilings, Tony also found that he was right as there was no windows in the room and the only door was a huge steel one that didn't allow any air in. Tony turned his head slightly to the side and noticed another person unconscious on the other side of the room.

"Hey are you ok?" Tony gasped out realising that his voice only came out in a whisper. It wasn't until Tony took note of the man's face that he realised who it was. Tony gasped as much as his face would allow when he recognised the checkout operator from the gas station lying across from him.

Before Tony could process anything else the door to the room opened and Tony's stomach dropped, he knew he was in big trouble because there in the doorway was Probationary Constable Cameron Sullivan better known as their people eating guy.


	81. Chapter 81: Killer Confession

Tony's head was throbbing and he still felt like a lead weight but that didn't stop him from panicking. Well he _would_ be panicking if he could move his body so technically the only part of him that could do any sort of hysterics was his mind. The only thing he was thankful for in this whole horrible situation was the position that he had been placed in while Probationary Constable Sullivan was _doing something_. Tony had no idea what the constable was actually doing and in many ways he didn't want to know but from his position of lying on the floor, he was able to see most of the room, the checkout operator lying next to him and Sullivan in the far corner. Scanning the room with his eyes, Tony tried to look for an easy escape. Not finding one, he then began to look for a slightly harder one but the only exit, which also doubled as the entry, was a wooden door at the far end of the room and was practically displaying a sign saying "there's no way you're getting out me without being seen"

With no other option available to him, Tony began to take in his surroundings and take in as much detail as possible, even though there was probably no way he was getting out alive.....or in one piece. Firstly, he assumed they were hiding in a cabin or something of similar structure. The walls, door and most of the furniture was made out of wood and looked very old in his opinion. Apart from a table that stood near Sullivan, there was an amateur kitchen set up in the other corner mainly consisting of used camping equipment and a camp fridge which Tony knew all too well what going to be placed in there. He was never one for cramped spaces. There was a bed in the last remaining corner which had clearly been slept in; giving Tony the impression that this was either where Sullivan had been hiding from them after their questioning or this was a more permanent hideaway for his illegal and disturbing hobby. Either way, with the only two windows covered with scrap sheets of wood (after further examination Tony came to realise that there were windows he just didn't notice them as they were boarded up), there was no way of Tony knowing where he was, what time of day it was (although he assumed sometime early morning but that was only an assumption because he wasn't sure how long he had been out for) or whether or not there was any human life forms within yelling distance. He didn't even know if Michael was alright. The last time he had seen him, Michael was slumped over in the passenger seat, not moving. Which then lead Tony's thoughts onto Kate. Not only could Kate have lost her brother but she was about to lose him too and Tony would never meet the daughter he so desperately wanted. He knew Gibbs and the team would be there for her and Kate but it wouldn't be the same as her father and Tony knew all too well what growing up without a loving father was like.

Tony was about to move his thoughts onto his father and his sudden death when Sullivan slowly turned around and began walking towards him. Tony's breathing quickly became shallower as Sullivan came to a slow stop right in front of him.

"Ah you're awake" he said in probably the creepiest voice imaginable. Tony was about to attempt to reply, although he could only move his lips in a way that resembled a fish. All he could do was show his expression through his eyes and hope that Sullivan still had some sanity in him. Although eating people....he severely doubted it. But when he noticed that Sullivan wasn't in fact facing him, he turned his eyes and looked at the checkout operator, who too, was awake and slightly more mobile than he was. Tony remained still as he watched Sullivan walk up to the man on the ground and knelt down, placing his hand in his pocket and slowly pulling it out, producing a needle.

"Why......are.....you......doing...this...." the checkout operator managed to say, although it sounded more like "eye.....ah....oo....oing....his".

"Why?" Sullivan repeated "you want to know _why_! Not can I let you go or why can't you start on the copper, you're asking why I'm doing _this_"

Sullivan stood up, needle remaining in his hand and began pacing the room as he started to explain his troubled past and evil plan to fix it as most villains in movies tend to do.

"Well it began when I was young" he said in the sort of tone that a person on a television show would use as the screen heads to a black and white flashback "my mother was a drunk and of absolutely no use to me. My father, if you can even call him that, would abuse me at every possible moment and then once he was finished, he would invite his friends in and they'd have a game of strip poker, only I was the one taking my clothes off"

Sullivan suddenly stopped when he noticed an expression similar to 'not another sappy story' combined with 'help me' on the operators face so he smiled evilly and continued "now you're probably thinking this is another one of those stories that allows someone to blame everything on their past and use the woe is me excuse. I can assure you. This is not one of those stories"

Sullivan began to extend his pacing circle to now include half the cabin but waited until he was at the other end of the cabin before he continued.

"This continued for some time. At first I just let it happen.....over and over again but after a while I began to fight back. I decided that life isn't unfair but merely a test of what you chose to do when an obstacle is thrown your way. So I removed the obstacle from my life and a week later, there was an article in the local paper of a man, found dead, buried in the park where children play. I was shy of 13. No one suspected me, I was just a child. Everything kind of picked its self up after that, like I had done God a favour by getting rid of the evil people called my father and life was good. I graduated, met the love of my life and we had a beautiful son. But then we were told he had cerebral palsy. My innocent newborn son now suddenly has this life crippling disability. And suddenly life wasn't fair again" and suddenly Sullivan started shouting "WHAT DID MY SON DO TO DESERVE WHAT GOD GAVE HIM! DID HE DESERVE TO BE CRIPPLED ALL HIS LIFE AND NEVER WALK OR TALK! I DON'T BLOODY THINK SO" and just as sudden as he started shouting, Sullivan was suddenly calm again "I don't think so. And you know what? We raised him the best we could and after nine years, he died. Just like that. The doctors had no idea why. They said something about his lungs and I have no idea on the rest. It might have had nothing to do with the lungs. And then the bitch I call a wife decided she couldn't take it anymore and she left me. She had no right to do that. So I found her. And I killed her. No one leaves me and gets away with it. But I wasn't 13 anymore and people would suspect me. So I cut her up and put her in my freezer. She looked just like regular meat. They never suspected a thing. Then one night, in the middle of the night, I was hungry and I made myself a nice hot meal, I can't quite remember what of but I do remember it being the nicest thing I've ever had. Then, the next morning I went to the freezer to give the remains to the dog and her heart was missing. It seemed to fit her cold nature. And then it hit me. _She_ was what I ate last night. And there was nothing left of it for it to be traced to me. It was the perfect crime. So I did it again. The local paper boy didn't see it coming. But something wasn't quite right. It didn't taste the same" Sullivan then stopped pacing and walked back over to the checkout operator and knelt down and spoke softly so that Tony really had to listen to hear the rest.

"After him it was more of trial and error" Sullivan whispered "some people tasted better than others and I couldn't work out why. And then it hit me. Blood type. Only the best cannibals can taste the difference in blood type. It's so rare that it's rarely documented. But I knew what I wanted. So I had to figure out how I could find out a person's blood type without them suspecting anything. Then it hit me. I joined the force and made sure I was on patrol as much as possible. The sergeant just thought I was a dedicated officer. He had no idea I was checking people's licences when I pulled them over. It was so simple and I was getting away with it" and then he turned to face Tony and with Tony staring at him in complete horror, it was clear Tony was awake too.

"And then I made the mistake of killing an ex colonel who just happened to have slept with a member of NCIS. They couldn't just leave well enough alone could they? They had to keep investigating. Then they discovered me and my partner and I knew it was going downhill from there. I laid low for a while and I was planning on moving to another state or somewhere else away enough that they wouldn't find me. And I was managing my craving well. But then I made the mistake of visiting the service station on my way and who did I bump into but you. And when you and your stupid mate over here" Sullivan stood up so he was facing both men "and you made the mistake of mentioning your blood type. I couldn't hold it in any longer and well the rest they say is history"

Sullivan looked from Tony to the checkout operator and back again, smiling evilly as he went. Then clutching the needle he hadn't removed from his hand, he walked over to the checkout operator, knelt down again and injected the clear liquid into his arm.

"But now that you both know my story, I'm going to have to dispose of the new obstacle in my way" and Tony watched in horror as Sullivan grabbed a knife from his other pocket and began cutting into the checkout operators chest, while you could watch the scream in his eyes.


	82. Chapter 82: Race Against Time

McGee sat in the squad room staring at his computer screen; it was so quiet it was starting to scare him. Not only was he by himself in the squad room but he had also been watching the service stations security tapes for hours trying to find some lead as to where Tony could be. On about his 50th time McGee jumped when he heard a gruff voice say "Got anything McGee?"

McGee looked up to see Gibbs standing above him obviously back from filling Director Shephard in on the situation.

"Not anything that will help us find Tony, all I can say for certain is that Tony left the service station and was followed by some guy in a black hoodie," McGee replied "the camera's only go as far as the gas tanks so I lose them as soon as they go into the car park"

"Any luck finding the operator who was working at the time?" Gibbs asked hoping for something.

"Nope nothing," McGee sighed "I called his wife and some of his family and none of them have seen him, his wife is worried since he was meant to be home hours ago"

Gibbs clenched and unclenched his fists he had a pretty good idea who had taken Tony but he didn't want to accept it until he had solid evidence to prove it. The Director was on her annual leave in Rio de janeiro and he didn't want her to have to come back unless it was absolutely necessary.

"Where is everyone?" Gibbs asked only just noticing how empty the squad room was.

"Umm Ducky and Kate are in interview room one," McGee explained "Abby is in her lab and has been for hours going over every inch of evidence we found and I think Ziva is with Michael at the hospital"

Before Gibbs could say anything he heard the elevator ding and turned to see Ziva enter the squad room closely followed by Michael who looked a little pale but otherwise alright.

"Shouldn't he be at the hospital?" Gibbs said not liking how Michael seemed to be getting paler.

"Try telling him that," Ziva replied "the doctors wanted to keep him in overnight for observation since he has a concussion but he refused so now I'm making him come everywhere I go so I can keep an eye on him"

Gibbs nodded a motioned for Michael to take a seat at Kate's desk.

"As long as your here you can start going over possible suspects and motives," Gibbs said to Ziva pointing to a pile of papers on her desk "Michael can help if he's feeling up to it"

"Where's Kate?" Michael asked as he made his way over to Ziva and gladly took the seat she was offering.

Again before Gibbs could answer he heard footsteps coming towards the squad room and turned to see Ducky enter with a worried expression on his face.

"What up Duck?" Gibbs asked wondering what else could go wrong today.

"Well we have a small problem Jethro," Ducky replied "Caitlin has started to have contractions and if the drugs I've given her don't work and she doesn't calm down then I'm afraid she will go into premature labour which could be hazardous for both her and her baby"

"What?" Michael exclaimed getting up way to fast and practically falling back into his seat "How long has this been happening?"

"Well," Ducky explained "She said she felt a stab of pain at the service station but she just put that down to either indigestion or an extremely hard kick"

Gibbs nodded and ran his hand through his hair quickly he couldn't let on to how worried he was. His team relied on him to be the calm and rational one and if he lost it then they would have no hope of finding Tony.

"Go back to Kate, Ducky," Gibbs sighed "we'll tell you as soon as we have any news that might calm her down"

Ducky nodded and turned back towards the interview room.

"Hang on a second," Michael said getting up more slowly this time "I'll come with you"

Michael turned and gave Ziva a quick peck before walking over and following Ducky out of the squad room.

"I still can't believe they're together" McGee whispered to Gibbs earning an evil glare from Ziva who had just picked up the first paper on her pile.

Gibbs just rolled his eyes and went and sat at his desk and fiddled through some papers and squiggled in his notepad, the truth was he didn't have anything else he could do but he wanted to make it look like he was doing something so McGee and Ziva didn't feel like all they had was a fat load of nothing.

* * *

It had probably been a couple of hours since Michael and Ducky had left and McGee, Ziva and Gibbs had been working in silence all that time and still didn't have anything more than when they started.

Gibbs was about to give up and go get coffee when he heard the familiar cry of 'Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs' coming down towards the squad room.

Gibbs looked up and saw Abby run into the squad room holding evidence bag and stop quite suddenly in front of his desk.

"What you got Abs?" Gibbs asked pushing his fake work aside.

"I just finished analysing the syringe you found at the scene," Abby replied but not as cheerily as she usually would be is she had found a breakthrough in the case "Apart from having Tony's blood on the tip I can tell you that this syringe contained Pipecuronium Bromide better known as....."

"Arduan" Gibbs interrupted rising to his feet fairly quickly.

"Our people eater's drug of choice" Abby said grimly knowing she had just confirmed what everyone had been thinking anyway.

"McGee pull up Tony and the operator's driver's licenses" Gibbs ordered thinking he now knew exactly what happened to their missing person.

McGee pressed a few keys on his keyboard and in a flash both the licenses were up.

Gibbs quickly read taking in the service operators name was Robert McLaughlin for future reference.

"They're both A positive," Gibbs said bluntly to be met with a gasp from McGee and Ziva "my guess is our killer found out and decided to kill two birds with one stone"

"Oh crap" Ziva exclaimed taking in the full magnitude of the situation.

"No wait," McGee said thinking "this is a good thing"

"How the hell do you figure that McGee?" Gibbs snapped wanting to know how Tony been taken by a crazed cannibal could possibly be a good thing.

Before McGee could answer they were interrupted by Gibbs's phone ringing. Gibbs answered his phone and held it to his ear for a few seconds before putting it back in his pocket.

"Gear up," Gibbs ordered "we've got another body matching the description of Robert McLaughlin in the State Forest"

McGee and Ziva quickly grabbed their gear and followed Gibbs hoping that since Sullivan had killed Michael first that Tony could possibly still be alive and prayed that they weren't finding the _2__nd_ victim.

* * *

'_And.......MOVE!' _Tony thought as hard as he could, sending all thoughts down to his pinkie finger. Not long after his favourite cannibal had drugged, sliced and disembowelled the service station attendant, Sullivan had re-drugged Tony after becoming aware that not only was he awake but could move all his limbs. Now, lying on the floor in a frozen like state, all Tony could do was watch as Sullivan sifted through the various organs now occupying the only table in the room. If Tony could move and roll onto his side, he would vomit but the thought of drowning in his own spew didn't appeal to him too much so he tried not to look as best he could but if the sight wasn't going to make him gag, the sound certainly would. It had only been a few minutes since Sullivan returned after dumping the body. Where Tony had no idea but he prayed that there was a clue, any clue to reveal his location. After Sullivan had returned, he had said nothing to Tony, barely acknowledging that he was even there. He seemed more interested in sorting out what he considered edible and what was most likely going to the dog.

Tony sighed, knowing that until the drug began to wear off again he was stuck playing mummy on the floor and considering he had no idea how long it took last time, he didn't feel too sure of his escape.

* * *

_Click, click, click _went McGee's camera as he and Ziva were doing their usual routine upon arriving at a crime scene. They hadn't been there long but already by looking at the remains of Robert McLaughlin, their fear and worry for Tony only strengthened. The attacks on each victim were getting more aggressive and their latest victim wasn't to be the exception. His death was the same as all the others but Sullivan had taken most of his insides practically leaving only his skin and bones......a human costume.

"Do you think we'll get Tony back?" McGee asked quietly, not looking up from his squatting position near the body.

"Of course we're getting him back" Ziva confirmed, slightly taken aback from McGee's sudden question.

"I mean alive Ziva" McGee said, this time turning upwards to face her.

"I promise we're going to get him back alive McGee" Ziva promised, looking him straight in the eyes.

"But you never make promises" McGee sighed, his face falling "you always say people who make them are afraid to tell the truth"

The second McGee said that, Ziva crouched down to his level, looked him straight into the eyes again and with the most serious tone she could use said "No McGee. I never make promises I can't keep. People who make _those_ are afraid to tell the truth. We WILL get Tony back, breathing and with everything he was given the day he was born. I promise" and McGee nodded in response and the two of them continued working the crime scene, leaving no stone unturned in their attempt to find every bit of information they could to help them find Tony alive.

Not far from Robert McLaughlin's body, Gibbs was searching the road looking for tyre tracks or any form of evidence as to how the body came to be in the forest while he waited for Ducky and Palmer to arrive. In all the excitement and panic of receiving his phone call, Gibbs had forgot to inform Ducky of the latest development in the case and for that reason he chose himself to wait impatiently by the road, his own form of punishment. But by the time Ducky arrived moments later, Gibbs hadn't found one impression of a car, foot print, bike, plane, boat, mammoth or any other possible mode of transportation that could have been used to dump the body at their crime scene.

"What have we got Jethro?" Palmer asked, in a very bad impersonation of Ducky.

"Where's Ducky?" Gibbs asked, surprised to see only Palmer. So surprised that he even forgot to glare at Palmer's lame impersonation attempt.

"He's back at NCIS with Kate remember?" Palmer asked, his face beaming with the fact that he was now the M.E "he sent me instead"

"You're all that's coming?" Gibbs asked, a little ruder than intended but Palmer was too pleased with himself to even notice.

"Yep" he simply said, gathered up his bags and made his way towards Ziva, McGee and the body. Gibbs shook his head and made his way down too.

Little did they know that while they fought so hard for clues to Tony's whereabouts, they were closer to their colleague than they thought.


	83. Chapter 83: Cabin Blues

Ducky stood over the body of Robert McLaughlin in Autopsy. He hadn't expected to find anything new that would help lead them to Tony but he still felt like he was useless when all he managed to find was some dirt and the obvious cause of death.

Ducky sighed and walked defeated over to his desk and picked up the phone. As he dialed the number for Gibb's desk in the squad room he looked over to the other end of autopsy where Kate was sleeping, he had thought that autopsy was the most sterile environment in NCIS so he had moved her there a couple of hours ago. She was squirming and he could see sweat on her forehead that Michael was gently wiping off, but at least that would delay her labour for a short amount of time.

"I'm done here Jethro" Ducky said into the phone as he heard the familiar 'Gibbs' on the other end.

Ducky hung up the phone and had barely had time to walk back over to the body when he heard the doors to autopsy open and Gibbs and Ziva walk in.

"What you got Duck?" Gibbs asked fully knowing the answer would be nothing.

"Nothing we don't already know Jethro," Ducky sighed "this man has been dead a little under 5 hours and his cause of death is shock and extreme blood loss……oh and of course all his internal organs are missing plus the chunk taken from his thigh"

"Anything that will help us find DiNozzo?" Gibbs snapped.

"Don't you think I would have told you the moment you walked in Jethro?" Ducky retorted causing Gibbs to nod and turn his gaze away.

"How's Kate doing?" Gibbs asked noticing her and Palmer on the other side of autopsy.

"Well her pulse is racing and she is still in labour," Ducky explained "but for the time being I've managed to calm her down but regardless of anything I do this baby is coming today and I would like to get this man out of here before that happens"

"Ok thanks Ducks," Gibbs sighed as Ducky started to grab what he needed to close up the body and move him from autopsy "let me know if anything changes with Kate"

Ducky nodded and went back to what he was doing as Gibbs left the room with Ziva in tow.

"Gibbs," Ziva whispered succeeding in gaining his attention "all the victims were killed within hours of each other we're running out of time and if he knows we know who he is then that gives us even less……."

"I know Officer David" Gibbs interrupted quickening his pace so Ziva had to almost jog to keep up.

"What do we do now?" Ziva asked not sure where they could go from here.

"We go see if Abby and McGee managed to find anything" Gibbs replied and he and Ziva continued to make there way down the hallway towards Abby's lab.

* * *

Abby and McGee paced in opposite directions as they were waiting for Gibbs to arrive. Gibbs hadn't told them he was coming but they knew that being Gibbs he would be checking every five minutes to see if they had something to help Tony.

"McGee," Abby sighed tears starting to well up in her eyes "do you think we'll get him back?"

McGee stopped pacing and walked over to Abby.

"Of course we will" McGee replied with as much conviction he could muster since he was wondering the same thing.

"I just have this feeling things aren't going to end well," Abby sobbed "I don't see how we can get him back in time"

"Come here" McGee whispered and pulled Abby into his arms where he could feel her body begin to shake as she cried.

It felt like hours that McGee just stood there holding Abby but finally she stopped crying and looked up at him.

"I love you Tim" Abby said tearfully.

"I love you too Abby" McGee replied before he leaned down and kissed Abby gently.

McGee was taken aback when Abby's hands reached up and pulled him down into the kiss.

"Ahem" came a voice from the door just as McGee and Abby's kiss was getting more passionate.

McGee and Abby pulled away from each other suddenly and were slightly embarrassed to see Gibbs and Ziva had just entered the lab.

"Sorry Boss" McGee stammered feeling himself blushing.

"No need to apologize McGee," Gibbs replied with a smirk "what ya got Abs?"

"A fat load of nothing Gibbs," Abby sighed "the dirt under his fingernails is very common to where the body was found and of course the syringe contained Arduan, McGee was working on a theory but we are waiting on the computer to……"

Abby stopped as she heard her computer make a noise to indicate it had finished what it was doing.

"What theory McGee?" Gibbs asked suddenly turning his attention to him.

"Well I figured our killer would want to kill his victims somewhere close to the dump sites," McGee explained "so I entered where all the bodies were found into my global positioning software and I was waiting for it to come back with an area that was within enough distance from all the bodies for him to be able to dump them and get back to wherever he is hiding within an hour"

"And?" Gibbs asked wanting more details.

"And going from this," McGee continued looking at his computer screen "there is six cabins in the state forest that are within that distance"

"So we search those six cabins and if your theory is right Tony should be in one of those?" Gibbs asked getting anxious he just wanted to go out and search.

"No you search four" McGee replied smugly.

"But you just said there was six" Ziva said suddenly joining the conversation.

"I know but we can eliminate two of them as possibilities because of there location," McGee explained pointing to the cabins on the map "one of them is down the bottom of a steep embankment and basically inaccessible to anybody and the other one is practically in front of where we found the last body so it would be way to close for our killer, he would risk been caught as soon as he dumped the body"

"Ok Ziva and McGee grab your gear and get out there," Gibbs ordered "you are not leaving that forest until you find Tony"

McGee and Ziva nodded and hurried out of Abby's lab, McGee blowing Abby a quick kiss before he went.

"What are you going to do Gibbs?" Abby asked thinking that Gibbs would have wanted to go.

"I'm going down to stay with Kate," Gibbs replied "She is not having this baby till DiNozzo gets back and I'm going to make sure of it"

"You can't order someone not to give birth Gibbs" Abby said with a smile as soon as she saw the determination on Gibbs' face she quickly added "or maybe you can"

"Thanks Abs" Gibbs sighed as he turned and left the lab heading towards autopsy hoping like hell that McGee and Ziva brought Tony back………..alive.

* * *

"Ok, that's cabin number three so we've only got one more to go" McGee sighed "Tony HAS to be in that one"

"Two" Ziva corrected him "we've searched this one twice. I told you to take a left at that crossroad but no, you just _had_ to pull rank and go right"

"But according to the map we should have headed right" McGee stated in his defense "if we had gone left we would have headed straight back to the first cabin"

"so instead we go right and return back to the cabin we just bloody searched" ziva snapped back. They had already been searching for 3 hours now and apart from being completely exhausted, they were also completely frustrated and worried about not finding Tony. Each second that passed lessoned the chance of finding him alive but neither of them were willing to say it out loud.

"where is the third cabin?" ziva sighed, trying to put aside the intense feeling of strangling mcgee.

"umm…" mcgee thought out loud as he fiddled with the remains of the map he had screwed up into a tiny ball out of frustration "would you believe on the other side of the park?"

"are you _serious_?" ziva almost exploded "theres supposed to be four cabins that we need to check! What happened to the other one?"

"well…" mcgee began "I think we passed it already"

"since when?" ziva snapped, her voice raising in tone and pitch.

"well I'm starting to think that pile of firewood we passed on the second trip to this cabin _was_ the third cabin" mcgee cautiously explained "that could have been why we ended up back here"

"YA THINK" ziva barked and kicked the fragile wall of the cabin, shaking it slightly and making mcgee jump. Ziva bit her lip, trying, praying that she wouldn't say something she was going to regret and thankfully responded with a bitter "you're the one telling Gibbs"

* * *

"Breathe Kate, in and out…that's it" Gibbs said softly, coaching Kate through one of her toughest contractions yet "it will all be over soon I promise"

"Where's tony?" kate breathed heavily "have you found him yet?"

Gibbs paused for a second, making sure to phrase his reply correctly. "It's only a matter of time now" he finally answered "Ziva and mcgee are out there now searching all the cabins in the forrest. It won't be long until mcgee drives ziva insane and she finds dinozzo just so she can get out of there. Just hang in there ok"

Kate could only manage a nod as yet another painful contraction swept over her. Somehow giving birth in autopsy while the father of her child was being held hostage by a crazed cannibal wasn't exactly what she had planned for the birth of her first child.

Kate breathed out a huge sigh of relief as her latest contraction passed and finally was able to process what Gibbs had just said.

"That could take hours Gibbs," Kate said croakily "there must be dozens of cabins there"

"Actually McGee found six and managed to narrow them down to four," Gibbs explained "One was inaccessible to any form of life and the other was too close to the latest dump site so to risky for our killer to be caught"

Kate thought about what Gibbs had just told her before letting out a gasp.

"What is it?" Gibbs exclaimed "Another contraction?"

"No," Kate practically yelled "Tony…..he'll be at the cbain closest to where the latest body was found"

"What?" Gibbs asked confused.

"Think about," Kate explained "The profile fits, he knew we would respond to the body and he loves watching the outcome of his work and would want to see that he had us stumped…..he's cocky Gibbs, he's been watching us work this whole time"

"Shit" Gibbs exclaimed rushing out of the room.

"Where are you going?" Kate yelled after him.

"To tell Ziva and McGee they're searching the wrong cabin" Gibbs yelled back before the autopsy doors closed leaving Kate to ponder if they had worked their killer out in time.

* * *

" I don't understand," McGee said frustrated tossing his map on the ground "this was the last cabin he should have been here"

Before Ziva could reply her cell phone started vibrating in her pocket, Ziva pulled it out only to notice Gibb's familiar number on the display.

"It's Gibbs," Ziva said in a confused voice "That's weird"

"Why is that weird?" McGee asked "He probably wants an update on the search.

"Yes but this is Tony, so why would he interrupt the search knowing we would call if we found anything?" Ziva explained and paused before adding "I think we should check the cabin near where the body was found"

"What? Why?" McGee exclaimed.

"It's why Gibb's is ringing," Ziva replied "I'll explain on the way"

Before McGee could say anything else Ziva had put her phone back in her pocket and started running back towards the road. McGee sighed before picking up the map and chasing straight after her hoping like hell that this would be the right cabin.

* * *

_*** Dear VERY loyal readers,**_

_**We know it's been months since we've last posted and we thank you so much for all the emails asking about the story and when it's going to be finished. I (aka Kate) have been going through a really tough time at the moment. Not only have I moved states recently but I am also going through a really emotional court case taking my uncle to court for sexually abusing myself and my cousin. On top off all this (which is still currently ongoing) I've recently started UNI in a place I've never been before and I've had absolutely no time to even sit down at a computer and write (trust me I've been going through withdrawals!) Emma too has been busy with work interviews, TAFE courses (2) and with me moving away even further than we were before it's a lot harder to communicate but we've fixed all that. We'd both really like to thank everyone that's stayed with us. It felt so good to still be receiving reviews even though we weren't posting at the time and even the emails asking what was happening and if everyone was alright. We love our story and we've even recently re-read it to catch up and are still finding it hard not to stop reading because even we want to know what's happening next (and we wrote it! Lol)**_

_**Anyways I better get going...we've got chapters to write! And we promise we will upload faster this time! Because we're entering Dead or Alive? Into the Bookrix 'My Best Fiction' competition and well....it kinda needs to be finished lol and once it is we BEG everyone to vote for the story coz we'll need all the support we can get! You can vote at:**_

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	84. Chapter 84 Forest Dash

"Gibbs," Ziva practically yelled down the phone as her and McGee sprinted back to the entrance of the forest "we're heading back to the cabin near the road now, give us 10 minutes"

"DiNozzo may not have 10 minutes Ziva" Gibbs replied.

"Ok give me 5 minutes," Ziva sighed before taking a glance back at McGee "McGee will be more like 10"

"Just hurry" Gibbs snapped before hanging up the phone.

"Come on McGee" Ziva yelled back trying to hurry her colleague up. McGee was not the fittest agent and was struggling with running the long distance not to mention all the shrubbery and uneven ground he had to run over also.

"Just go get Tony Ziva," McGee yelled back taking a quick break by a tree "I'll catch up"

Ziva nodded at McGee and increased her speed realising she hadn't been going as fast as she could so McGee could keep up, Ziva just hoped she wasn't too late

* * *

Gibbs replaced his cell in his pocket and turned back to Kate who was looking at him expectantly.

"They worked it out Kate," Gibbs said placing a hand on her shoulder "They will have Tony back in a few minutes"

"But will they have him back alive Gibbs?" Kate replied anxiously.

Gibbs crouched down to Kate's level and looked her straight in the eyes so she knew he wasn't lying.

"They will get Tony back alive Kate," Gibbs explained "And he will be back in time to see his daughter be born"

Kate nodded and grabbed Gibbs hand tightly as another contraction coursed through her body.

"That's it," Gibbs exclaimed "you are going to the hospital"

Kate shook her head frantically before replying "not until Tony is back"

"Look Kate," Gibbs sighed "chances are Tony will still be under the influence of the Arduan and have some injuries so he will be going straight to the hospital himself, Ziva and McGee are on their way to get him now so by the time you get to the hospital he will be on his way"

Kate thought about what Gibbs said for a moment until she finally sighed and nodded.

"DUCK," Gibbs yelled causing Ducky, Palmer and Michael to come back into the room "Kate's going to the hospital, help me get her into my car"

Kate watched as everyone rushed into action, Palmer and Michael came over and helped Kate to her feet while Gibbs started to rush out to get the car ready.

Ducky rushed over to Kate as another contraction hit her ands he sank back down to the autopsy table.

"Jethro," Ducky yelled before Gibbs could get out of earshot "Kate isn't going anywhere"

"What do you mean?" Gibbs exclaimed coming back into the room.

"Her contractions are too close together she won't make it to the hospital I'm going to have to deliver her baby here" Ducky explained and started collecting everything he needed.

"No...no...no" Kate gasped clutching Michael's hand "I...am...not... having...my baby...in autopsy"

"I'm sorry Caitlin," Ducky said sympathetically "but this is not up for discussion"

"Gibbs," Kate sobbed causing Gibbs to walk over and grip her other hand "I can't do this without Tony"

"Yes you can Kate," Gibbs replied sternly "Palmer has called an ambulance and it will be here ready to take you and your baby to see Tony"

"You promise?" Kate asked knowing that if Gibbs promised something chances are it was true"

"I promise," Gibbs replied gripping Kate's hand tighter "Duck she's ready"

"Alright Caitlin on the next contraction I want you to push" Ducky explained and took his position.

Kate took a deep breath and waited until the next contraction all the while hoping that Ziva and McGee would get to Tony in time.

* * *

Tony wiggled his fingers a little trying to get some feeling back in his numb body. Over the course of the last hour or so the feeling in the top half of his body was starting to come back, but his legs were still completely paralysed and without them there would be no chance of escape.

Just as Tony was assessing his options Sullivan entered the room with another syringe in his hand and a large butcher's knife.

"Well Agent DiNozzo the time has come for me to feast on your insides," Sullivan said creepily and very cheerfully "I've never eaten a copper before, I'm sure you'll be delicious"

Sullivan licked his lips and placed down the knife on the table where the checkout operators organs were only a few minutes beforehand.

"Firstly I have to make sure you are completely still and can't try anything stupid" Sullivan explained nodding towards Tony's hand which was still moving slightly.

Sullivan approached Tony menacingly and plunged the full syringe into Tony's thigh. Sullivan emptied half the syringe into Tony before a sound outside caught his attention.

"I guess I'll have to hurry things up" Sullivan said and leaving the syringe in Tony's thigh grabbed the knife and raised it above his head preparing to plunge it into Tony's chest.

* * *

"Dammit" Ziva cursed as she felt yet another branch cut into her skin. Ziva knew she would be covered in multiple cuts by the time she got to Tony but she didn't care she just ran as fast as she could towards the cabin.

Just as Ziva manoeuvred around another tree the cabin came into view, Ziva tried to see if she could see what was going on form where she was but there didn't seem to be any windows and form what she could gather the only entrance was the front door.

Ziva sighed as she came to a stop in front of the door and while she unholstered her weapon and took of the safety took the opportunity to catch her breath. Ziva's lungs were burning and her legs felt like jelly but at the moment all she cared about was getting Tony out of that cabin.

Ziva raised her gun and silently turned the doorknob, just as Ziva was about to enter the cabin she heard the rustling of bushes behind her and the sound of someone taking deep gulps of air.

"Wow McGee," Ziva whispered "you got here a lot faster than I thought you would"

"Is….he…in…..there" McGee replied taking gulps of air between each word.

"I don't know yet I was just about to go in," Ziva said waiting for McGee to get out his weapon. Once Ziva heard the click of the safety on his gun she asked "you ready?" and turned to see McGee nod his head.

* * *

"ARRRRRRRGH" Kate screamed as another contraction ripped through her body only a few minuted after the last one. She knew that she was probably crushing Gibb's hand but she didn't care she was in pain and all she could think about was that it should be Tony's hand been crushed every time she had a contraction.

"You said he would be here by now" Kate gasped with tears and sweat dripping down her face.

"I know," Gibbs replied "and I promise you he will be here soon"

"Alive?" Kate asked with hope filling her eyes, she knew that the chances of Tony coming back alive were very slim and that she may get her fiancé back in pieces.

"Kate," Gibbs said sternly tightening his grip on Kate's hand "I promise you we will get Tony back alive and he will be here when this is over"

Kate nodded and screamed as yet another contraction hit her.

"I'm sorry Caitlin," Ducky said "but this baby is coming now, I need you to start pushing"

"No," Kate exclaimed "not without Tony, I can't do this without him"

"Yes you can Kate," Gibbs replied "you are strong and you will see Tony soon, you can't stop this baby from coming so you need to push ok"

Kate nodded and put her chin to her chest and grunted and screamed as she started to give birth.

* * *

Tony could feel the Arduan starting to take effect and hoped that the fact that he only had half the syringe pumped into him meant he may have some chance of getting away.

Tony tried to get some part of his body to move, just one arm he thought something to stop this knife from plunging into him.

Tony glanced up and saw the knife getting closer and closer, it seemed like everything was happening in slow motion. Tony shut his eyes any waited for the impact to come.

"I'm sorry Kate" Tony whispered just as he felt the knife pierce his skin, at least that's what should of happened, instead just as he mumbled that sentence a gun shot rang out and Tony heard the knife hit the floor next to him followed by a thump.

Tony slowly opened his eyes to see the Sullivan was lying in a pool of blood on the floor with a gunshot wound to the head, Tony looked towards the doorway and saw Ziva lowering her gun and her and McGee rushing towards him.

"Oh my god," Ziva exclaimed "Are you alright?"

"Took you long enough" Tony replied with a smirk and then seeing that Ziva wasn't amused added "Yeah I think so, could you please get that thing out of me?"

Ziva looked down towards Tony's leg and pulled out the half empty syringe.

"Can you move at all?" Ziva asked obviously noticing that Tony wasn't making any effort to get out of the cabin.

"Not really," Tony answered I can probably manage my arms but anything below that is still numb"

"McGee give me a hand" Ziva ordered and placed one of Tony's arms over her should while McGee took the other one.

"You're going to carry me all the way back to the car?" Tony asked thinking they were strong but not that strong.

"Actually the car is only a few metres away;" Ziva explained "he was hiding in plain sight all this time"

"Oh," Tony said "fancy that"

"Alright enough talking," Ziva barked "we are taking you to the hospital"

Tony didn't know how he managed it but he managed to lift his head and shake it frantically.

"No, no way," Tony exclaimed "the only place I'm going is to see Kate"

"Well Kate is in labour," Ziva said bluntly "so she will probably be there herself by now, let's go"

Before Tony could protest Ziva and McGee had lifted him up off the table and where dragging him out towards the car and towards his new baby.


End file.
